History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota, Part 60

Author: Warner, George E., 1826?-1917; Foote, C. M. (Charles M.), 1849-1899; Neill, Edward D. (Edward Duffield), 1823-1893; Williams, J. Fletcher (John Fletcher), 1834-1895
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Minneapolis, North Star Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 738

USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota > Part 60

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349

MINNEAPOLIS-BIOGRAPHICAL.

ries : in 1857, he secured the elaim where he now lives and built his present residence in 1880. Angust 15th, 1862, he enlisted and went to Fort Ridgely ; the following summer he went with the expedition against the Indians, across the plains. and in the fall of 1863 went to St. Louis, where he was engaged in guard duty during the winter and in the spring went into active service, partie- ipating in all the battles of his regiment. He was honorably discharged in Angust. 1865. In April, 1857, he married Ellen Buckley. They have six children.

(. C. Garvey was born in New Brunswick. March 29th, 1828. At the age of four years he went with his parents to Maine. When he was but eighteen his father died, and it became his duty to care for and support the family. In 1850 he came to Minnesota, made one of the first elaims on the west side of the river, and received the second patent from Washington. Mr. Garvey attended the first election on this side of the river and east the first ballot. He was married, in 1859, to Miss L. A. Nason. Nine children have been born to them.

· W. M. Girling. a native of England, was born in 1830. Ile came to America, and following the business of his father and grandfather. went to manufacturing knitted goods. He started farto- ries in Boston, and in New Hampshire, and Ger- mantown, Pennsylvania. In 1874 he came here, and is now one of the proprietors of the Minnea- polis Knitting Mills. Mr. Girling has a family of eight children. five sons and three daughters.

E. A. Goodspeed was born in 1854, at Vassal- borough. Maine. Ile came to Minneapolis in April, 1871, and was engaged in the lumber trade until 1877, when he became a member of the firm of Goodspeed and Sons, wholesale dealers in sheep. This business is exclusively wholesale, and they sell either on foot or dressed. The individual members of the firm are A. II .. J. B .. and E. A. Goodspeed. April 13th. 1879, Mr. Goodspeed married Mary Townsend. They have one child.

John Green. born in New Brunswick. in 1820. Ile lived there until twenty years of age, engaged in farming : then went to Maine, and for eleven years was in the lumber business. In the fall of 1853 he came to Minneapolis. and in 1855, took by pre-emption the farm he still owns, and built his present residence in 1875. Mr. Green was

married, in 1850. at Old Town. Maine. to Mary Ilutchins, who was born in 1830, at Knox, Waldo county, Maine. They have three children : James. Rhoda, and Luella.

M. J. Hallaron. a native of Ireland, was born September 9th. 1832. Ile emigrated to America in 1851, located in Cortland county, New York, and engaged in farming. In 1857 he came to St. Anthony, and that winter worked in the woods, and in 1855 made a claim one mile west of Cedar Lake. The summer of 1856 he worked on Lake Pepin. and that winter he was with Mr. Nash, in the hardware business. The following summer he was employed by Tufts. Reynolds and Co. Mr. Hallaron was married. December 20th. 1858. to Catharine Wallace. They removed to the farm. and remained until November, 1862. when they came to Minneapolis, and he engaged in the dray and express business for fourteen years. In 1878 he moved to his farm. and erected all the buildings. They have six children : John, Mary. Nellie, James, Katie, and Agnes.

Christopher lanke, a native of Germany, was born in 1826. He emigrated to America in 1854; and lived in Ohio until 1857, when he came here. for two years he rented a farm, and in 1864 pur- chased 205 arres on section 5, 6 and 7, and has since resided there. lle was married in Ger- many, November 9th, 1851, to Miss Stammen. They are the parents of five children. Mr. Hanke makes a specialty of raising full blood Jersey cattle, Chester White and Poland China swine. He has one of the finest farms in Hennepin county; his barn, built in 1876, is 88x36 feet, and four stories high: it is considered the second best in the county; he also has a granary 73x24 feet. three stories high: the whole place is a model of neatness. Mrs. Hanke annually man- ufactures 2.000 pounds of fine butter for private customers.

J. W. Hayes was born in 1853, at Watertown, Jefferson county. Wisconsin. In 1866 he moved to Stearns county, Minnesota, and engaged in farm- ing; he came to Minneapolis in May, 1875, and worked for G. Mel'eters until he bought him ont in 1877, since which time he has conducted the Lyndale Dairy in partnership with Mr. Mathi- son; they own fifty-three cows, and are doing a successful business. Mr. Hayes was married in May, 1879, to Miss Glenen of Wisconsin.

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HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY.

J. F. Held. a native of Prussia. was born in 1844. Jle moved to Indiana in 1861; enlisted Angust. 1862. in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry. and served until the close of the war. He came to Minneapolis in 1865 and worked three years in a saw mill: afterwards was engaged as a laborer until 1-71, when he bought 145 acres of land on section 30. and the spring following started an extensive garden: he makes a specialty of fine celery. also raises a large variety of vegetables. and has a vineyard of one-half acre. His wife was Austine Crousey, whom he married in 1878. They have one child: Margretta.

(. Jenson was born in Denmark. in 1847. 1le emigrated to America, and in 1867 went to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In the fall of lash he re- moved to Minneapolis, and was engaged as laborer until 1872, when he embarked in the dairy Insi- ness. The firm of smith and Jenson started with torty cows. but at the expiration of four months they sold out. and in the fall of 1873. commenced with only twenty cows, which they sold again in the spring. The following antumm. the firm of Jenson Brothers located on the east side. engaged in the dairy business with twenty-four cows, and in 1575. bought their place of fifteen acres. on section 29. In the spring of Isas this partnership was disolved. and C. Jenson is now sole proprie- tor of the " Western Avene Dairy."

Hans Johanson. a native of Denmark. was born in 1811. He came to Minneapolis in 1872. and in 1876 commenced the dairy business. Ile now has fifteen cows. Mr. Johanson was married, in 1575. to Miss Anna Madsen. They are the parents of one child.

Martin Layman was born in Greene county, New York. January 15th, 1511. For a time he resided in Tompkins county, and then removed to Illinois, where he worked at farming until 1853, when he came to Minneapolis, and bought the place where he has since lived. He bought the original claim of Hanscom, and paid him $1.000 for it. Ile built his present commodious residence in 1876. Mr. Layman married. in 1832. Miss Eliz- abeth Brown, who has borne him thirteen children. All are living but one son and one daughter.

A. D. Libby, a native of Maine, was born in Waldo county, in 1833. After finishing his education he was engaged in a store for a time, and in 1857 moved to Minnesota. He first located

a farm in Wright county, but soon moved here. and helped break the land where South Minnea- polis now stands. For eight consecutive years he taught in the schools of Hennepin county, and was one of the volunteers at the time of the out- break in 1862. Mr. Libby is now Clerk of Min- neapolis township. He was married in 1866, to Miss Hannah Garvey. They have five children : Byron, Louis, Viola. Stella, and an infant.

P. S. Miller. a native of Sweden, was born in 1854. In the autumn of 1879, he married Miss Rozetta Jordan. of Minneapolis. He came here in 1872, and worked for dairymen until 1877. when the firm of Miller Brothers started with twenty cows. They own two acres of land on section 17. and now have sixty fine cows. They run one wagon twice a day in summer, and are doing a prosperous business.

V. Oswald, born in Switzerland, in 1829. He was a civil engineer, and worked ten years on the first railroad in his native country. He emigrated to America, and in 1875 was married to Frances Rimser, of Wisconsin. He came to Minneapolis in 1867, and worked at farming the first year ; after that as landscape gardener: in the spring of 1575 started his park, on the Cedar Lake road. It is furnished with a good green-house. and its fino drives, walks, ete .. make it a favorite resort. Mr. Oswald also furnishes his guests with ice cream, lemonade, and all kinds of refreshments.

R. L. Pratt was born at Lincoln, Maine. Sep- tember 16th. 1830, le lived on a farm until nineteen years of age, then worked at the lumber business; he came to Saint Anthony in June, 1850. and continued lombering until 1859, when he removed to California, but returned in 1865 and bought the place he now owns on section 17. Ile married Lydia, daughter of Rev. A. Turner, of Levant, Maine. They have three children. Mr. Pratt bought the only dairy in Minneapolis in 1865: it consisted of fifteen cows, which at that time furnished the city with milk. Ile now owns forty milch rows.

Stephen Pratt, a native of Penobscot county, Maine, was born in 1828. In October, Is19, he came to Saint Anthony: there were but three or four honses here at that time. He worked as laborer and in the lumber business until 1858, when he took a claim in Wright county, which he sold four years later. He enlisted in the

351

MINNEAPOLIS-BIOGRAPHICAL.

First Minnesota Cavalry in 1862, and served until the regiment was mustered out in Novem- ber. 1863. The following winter, Mr. Prait worked in the woods and in the spring bought his present farm of 160 acres; he started the dairy and butcher business with a partner, but they separated in 1865, and Mr. Pratt retained the farm; he raised the first "early rose" potatoes in this county, paying thirty-three dollars per bushel for the seed. The second year he raised 1,500 bushels which he sold at four dollars per bushel. In June, 1872, he was married to Mrs. Jennie Curtis. They are the parents of one child.

J. M. Paften, born in Penobscot county, Maine, in 1840. lle went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1858, and worked at teaming. In 1860 he married Annette Danforth, and in 1862 enlisted in the Forty-fourth Massachusetts and served until mustered ont. In the spring of 1864 he went to California for the benefit of his health, and reinrned to Nebraska by an overland route, walking about nine hundred miles of the way. Ile was one of the first workmen on the U. P. Railroad in 1866-7. then returned to Maine for a short time, ilence to Milion. Massachusetts. lle bought a farm in Randolph, but only lived there four years, when he removed to Minnesota for the health of an only son, who died February 220, 1877. Mr. Patten is proprietor of the -City Dairy." and owns fifty cows.

Thomas W. Peirce, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was born August 234, 1823. He was one of six sons all of whom learned the carpenter's trade; he commenced working when fifteen years of age, and continued the trade for about fifteen years; moved to Ohio in 1846; he went to Indiana for a short time, but returned to Ohio and formed a partner- ship with a Mr. Hillman, in contracting and building. In the fall of 1852 Mr. Peirce removed to Saint Anthony; he built a house for Mr. Rich- ards, and in October, 1852, he purchased a claim of 40 acres from Mr. Lowell, paid thirty-three dollars for it, and made a settlement with the government. The following spring he cleared a small piece of land and planted one-half acre fo potatoes; this was the beginning of his farm. In the summer of 1853 he built a residence for Mr. Hanson. Mr. Peirce was appointed a bidder for the first land sale in the county; the sale

never occurred however. In 1855-6 he was a member of the Territorial legislature, and was president of the Protective Association, formed by settlers to defend claims from land jumpers. It was he who sharpened and drove the first stake, for the survey of Minneapolis, at the junction of Nicollet and Hennepin avenues; Charles Christmas was surveyor, Mr. Peirce is one of the oldest living settlers of Hennepin county, and relates many thrilling incidents of pioneer life. He was married in 1849 to Miss Margaretta Moss. They have two children: Fred- erick W. and Laura Iennic.

Fred. Peterson was born in 1850, in Denmark. lle came here in 1872, and was employed by diť- ferent dairymen for five years. April 9th, 1879, he married Laura Oleson. They have one child. The firm of Peterson Brothers, established a dairy in 1877, with forty-five cows, afterward in- creased their stock to sixty-five; the partnership was discontinmed in April 1880, and Mr. Fred. Peterson is now proprietor of the Accommoda- tion dairy.

Christian Peterson came to Minneapolis in 1877. and worked for dairymen until the fall of 1879, when he established himself in the business ; he now has twenty cows.

Michael Rey was born in Alsace. in 1826. Hle came to America in 1849. and was employed in a wholesale store at Saint Louis, until 1859, when he removed to Bunker Hill, Illinois, and engag- ed in farming. In September 1869, he came here and bought the place he now owns. lle married at Saint Louis, in 1852. Seven children have been born to them. Mr. Rey has a fine garden, with eighty square feet of hot beds : he raises strawberries, raspberries and all kinds of vegeta- bles.

(. B. Sanborn, a native of Carroll county. New Hampshire, was born in 1827. He learned the tailor's trade and was in the clothing business at Great Falls, New Hampshire. for two years, affer that he went to Meredith and carried a general stock of merchandise until 1857. when he came here, and for a time engaged in the grocery busi- ness. Ile was married to Miss Sarah Hubbard. They had one daughter who died May 3d, 1880, at the age of twenty-one. Mr. Sanborn has thirty-three acres on section 34, and raises all kinds of evergreens adapted to this climate.

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HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY.

N. Shepherd was born at Bedford. Vermont. in 1523. At the age of twenty-one. he went to Lo- well. Massachusetts, and remained four years : he passed two years in Newbury, Vermont, then removed to Ripon. Wisconsin, and carried on a Imilding business for four years. employing about twenty men. lle married Lydia Newcomb, who bore him one son and three daughters. Mr. Shepherd came here in fall of 1877, and the following spring started the " North Star Fruit and Vegetable Garden :" he makes a specialty of the Wilson and Albany strawberries, the Phila- delphia and Turner raspberries and the Brittania blackberries : he also raises a great variety of vegetables, and keeps the different kinds of ever- greens that are adapted to this climate.

L. Small was born in 1844, at Pembrook. Maine. When but sixteen years of age. he went to sea. and at twenty-three became captain of the ship Vulcan: after six years. he left the water, and lived in Boston six years. then for two years he engaged in the fishing business. In 1862. he married Miss Robina Ostrom. Mr. Small embarked in the dairy business in March, 1879. and now owns forty cows. The firm of Small and Darling. stock dealers. wasestablished in August 1550. located at Sixth avenue south and Thirty-fourth street. They have a desirable farm of forty acres, and do a general stock Inisi- ness.

(. A. Smith, a native of Wilmington. Ver- mont. was born in 1829. Ile lived there until thirty-three years of age : then went to Waltham, Massachusetts, and for seven years was engaged in a bakery. Ile came to Minnesota, and worked at the carpenter's trade, three years in Northfield. and the same length of time in Minneapolis. lle was married in 1850. to Elizabeth A. Jefts. who has borne him five children. In 1875. Mr. Smith started his garden of ten arres on section 2. and is doing a thriving business; he has ex- tensive hot beds, and the green house is a build- ing 75x21 fort.

James Smith was born in Scotland, in 1831. For a time he held the position of overseer of the C'olzium estate in Sterlingshire, for the late Sir Archibald Edmondstone. In Isz1, he came to America. and for five years had charge of a stock farm on Long Island, then of the Thorndall farm in Tuitchess county, New York, two years, and in

the spring of 1876, took possession of the Lyn- dale farm. where he now resides : this place has the finest barn in Minnesota. Mr. Smith raises the celebrated Jersey cattle, Berkshire swine, Norman horses and Cotswold and Lincoln sheep. all from imported stock : at the late fair, he re- ceived seven first-class premiums amounting to over 8500. Mr. Smith's wife was Margaret Me- Viear. of Scotland. they were married in 1860 Five children have been born to them.

Nils Smith. a native of Denmark, was born Angust 17th, 1847. He came to America in 1864: located at Minneapolis, and for three years worked on a farm; he then engaged in the dairy business for himself ; in 1875, having thirty-five cows. he sold a half interest and in 1877, sold the remainder. In the spring of 1880, he started again with thirty-two cows and now has thirty- eight. He owns ton acres of land on section 1. and forty aeres on section 29. In October, 1875. he married Hanne Hansen, who has borne him two children : Soren and Hanne.

Captain Jolm Tapper, a native of England, was born in Dorsetshire, on the 25th of March, 1820. He emigrated to America in 1840. and spent the first summer in St. Louis. In the fall he went to Fort Atkinson. lowa. remained one and one-half years, then went to Fort Crawford, Wisconsin. and lived until the autumn of 1844. when he re- moved to Fort Snelling. At the beginning of the Mexican war he went to Mexico. with Dr. George Turner, of the United States Army, and re- mained with him until the close of the war, when they returned together to Fort Snelling, and Mr. Tapper engaged with Franklin Steele. He was at the Fort something over a year; then came to St. Anthony, and managed Steele's boarding-house one season; then took charge of the ferry. and afterward of the first suspension bridge. In 1862 he removed to lowa, and engaged in farming. Hle returned in the winter of 1880 81, and located on a farm belonging to the Steele estate, near Minne- haha Falls. On the Sth of August. 1853, he mar- ried Matilda Stinson, of Minneapolis. This was the first marriage which occurred on the west side. Five children have been born to them : Rosie E., Frank 11 .. Willie D., Mary M., and Jesse B. The first four were born on Nicollet Island. the last one in lowa.

1 .. Tilleny was born in Plymouth. England. in

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SAINT ANTHONY-GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

1831. When a babe he came with his parents to America. and lived in Vermont until March, 1854, when he went to California, where he was en- gaged in mining and the dairy business until 1860. Ile then removed to Wisconsin, and in the fall of 1863 came to Minneapolis. and purchased the farm he still owns, on sections 6 and 7. He is a breeder of the celebrated Norman and Clyde horses, from imported stock. Mr. Tilleny was married, in 1858, to Lydia Stanton.

Iliram Van Nest was born in 1831, near San- dnsky, Ohio. In early life he moved to Illinois

with his parents, and when twenty years of age came to Minneapolis. Ile attended the first elec- tion held on the west side of the river, and, No- vember 27th, 1854, he had placed on record the first warranty deed in Hennepin county. It was Mr. Van Nest who cleared the road from the point where it leaves Lake Calhoun to Minne-ha-haCreek near the Goodrich farm. In 1861 he married Rachel Blaisdell. They have two children living. Ilis farm of 120 acres is on section 10. Ile raises short-horn cattle, Lincoln and Southdown sheep, and Berkshire swine, from imported stock.

SAINT ANTHONY.

CHAPTER LV.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION-EARLY SETTLEMENT SCHOOLS-ORGANIZATION -- STATISTICAL CEMETERIES- MANUFACTURES -NURSERY- BIOGRAPHICAL.

The township of St. Anthony, formerly em- braced a much larger portion of territory than at present, and with somewhat indefinite boun- daries. Until the year of 1848, it was included in the Territorial limits of Wisconsin, from which it was separated by the boundary lines established with the admission of Wisconsin as a State. The whole territory then known as St. Croix county, was, by the newly established bounds, practically without a local government until the territorial organization of Minnesota, in 1849, when the county of St. Croix was divided into Washington and Ramsey counties. St. An- thony remained a part of Ramsey county until 1856, when by a special act of the Territorial legislature, the boundaries of Hennepin county were extended across the Mississippi river. The original bill included a strip about two miles wide, east of the present limits, which was mod- ified by a joint resolution, fixing the eastern boundary one mile east of its present location. and running south to the line between townships

28 and 29, thence due west to the river. This arrangement was never wholly satisfactory, and during the session of 1861, a legislative act ap- proved March 9th, fixed the boundaries of the township as follows: "Commencing on the north line of township 29, range 24, on the Mississippi river, thence ine east to a point be- tween sections 5 and 6, township 29, range 23, thence dne sonth on the section line to the Mis- sissippi river, thence up said river to the place of beginning." From the territory included in this description a portion embracing several sections was, March 3d, 1855, carved out for the corpo- rate limits of the city of St. Anthony, leaving the town an ell-shaped tract of about ten see- tions lying principally north and east of the city. North of the city limits and along the river is wild meadow land, merging into a narrow belt of prairie which is skirted by light timber, per- haps better known as brush-land. The latter is hilly, particularly in the north-west. The soil in the timbered portion is black Joam, with clay sub-soil, while the prairie is light sandy loam. There are no large bodies of water in this town- ship. Sandy Lake, in the north-west is a small marshy lake. Bridal-Veil Falls, on the bank of the Mississippi just below the city, are very beau- tiful. A small creek which rises in Ramsey county, here leaps into the river over a precipice,

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HISTORY OF HENNEPIN COUNTY.

with a sheer descent of about sixty feet. The name originated from the supposed resemblance to the veil of a bride.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

In the fall of 1:50. N. O. Phillips and L. C. Timpson made claims on the north-west quarter of section 6. and moved to them the following spring. A little latter. Lewis Stone, and his sons Jacob and Leonard. located on sections 6 and 7, and were followed by Mr. Finch, who took a claim on the south-east quarter of section 6. Pro- vious to these actual settlers. several parties living in St. Anthony made claims in the north- west part of the town. William Dugas. lived on his a number of years and ran a ferry across the Mississippi. He now resides in the town of Day- ton. Washington Getchell had a claim on the south-west quarter of section 3. which he sold to Edward Patch. Mr. Phillips still lives on his claim. He was appointed town clerk. October 20th, 1862. and has held the office without inter- ruption until the present time. Mr. Timpson lived on his claim until 1862, when he entered the army. He was a prisoner at Andersonville. and died of ill-treatment received there. lle was exchanged. but his death occurred before he could reach the union lines. His widow died in Minneapolis, in August, 1878. Mr. Stone Sr., resided on his claim about fifteen years, then went up to the Platte river where he ererted a fouring mill. He subsequently went to Pike's Peak and there died. His son Jacob also moved with his family to Pike's Peak and died there. The son Leonard is now in California. Mr. Finch lived on his claim a few years, then moved to the city, where he died some years ago. Chas. Estes settled on section 2. in 1853, and Elijah Grindall located on section 1. the following year. Estes still resides in the township and Grindall died in 1572. His son Olin conduets the farm. M. F. Kletzin settled on section 12, in 1:56, and still resides here. Louis Kampff came in 1857, and has since been engaged in the manufacture of pottery. The early history of this town is closely allied to that of the city of St. Anthony, and in the chapter on the city will be found the incidents connected with its history.

SCHOOLS.

The first school-house erected in the township,

outside the city, was located on the north-west quarter of section 2. and was built in 1858. It was a frame structure. about 21 x 30 feet. and one story high. The district then included all of the township west of the Sandy Lake road, and is now known as district mimber one. The house was subsequently moved to its present location on the river road. in the north-west quarter of section 10. The second school-house was built in 1859, on the south-east quarter of section 7. in district number two. The house was a frame, 20x 30 feet. and located on section 6. In 1861, this dis- triet was divided, giving the township three dis- tricts, the present number. The buildings belong- ing to distriets two and three are good frame structures, and furnished with patent seats and desks. In district number one the old house is still in use.

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History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota, Part 60

Author: Warner, George E., 1826?-1917; Foote, C. M. (Charles M.), 1849-1899; Neill, Edward D. (Edward Duffield), 1823-1893; Williams, J. Fletcher (John Fletcher), 1834-1895 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Minneapolis, North Star Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 738

Author: Warner, George E., 1826?-1917; Foote, C. M. (Charles M.), 1849-1899; Neill, Edward D. (Edward Duffield), 1823-1893; Williams, J. Fletcher (John Fletcher), 1834-1895
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Minneapolis, North Star Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 738