History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 24

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547

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The Fifth regiment reached Grand Gulf on the 7th of May and was in the battles of Raymond and Jackson, and at the rear of Vicksburg. BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

The First regiment reached Gettysburg, Pa., on the 1st of July, and the next morning Han- cock's corps, to which it was attached, moved to a ridge, the right resting on Cemetery Hill, the left near Sugar Loaf Mountain. The line of battle was a semi-ellipse, and Gibbon's division, to which the regiment belonged occupied the center of the curve nearest the enemy. On the 2d of July, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Gen- eral Hancock rode up to Colonel Colville, and ordered him to charge upon the advancing foe. The muzzles of the opposing muskets were not far distant and the conflict was terrific. When the sun set Captain Muller and Lieutenant Farrer were killed; Captain Periam mortally wounded; Colonel Colville, Lieut-Colonel Adams, Major Downie, Adjutant Peller, Lieutenants Sinclair, Demerest, DeGray and Boyd, severely wounded.

On the 3d of July, about 10 o'clock in the morn- ing, the rebels opened a terrible artillery fire, which lasted until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and then the infantry was suddenly advanced, and there was a fearful conflict, resulting in the defeat of the enemy. The loss on this day was also very severe. Captain Messick, in command of the First regiment, after the wounding of Colville, and Adams and Downie, was killed. Captain Farrell was mortally wounded, and Lieutenants Harmon, Heffelfinger, and May were wounded. Color-Ser- geant E. P. Perkins was wounded on the 2d of July. On the 3d of July Corporal Dehn, of the color guard was shot through the hand and the flag staff cut in two. Corporal H. D. O'Brien seized the flag with the broken staff and waving it over his head rushed up to the muzzles of the enemy's muskets and was wounded in the hand, but Corporal W. N. Irvine instantly grasped the

flag and held it up. Marshall Sherman of com- pany E, captured the flag of the 28th Virginia regiment.

THE SECOND REGIMENT.

The Second regiment, under Colonel George, on the 19th of September fought at Chicamauga, and in the first day's fight, eight were killed and forty-one wounded. On the 25th of November, Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop in command, it moved against the enemy at Mission Ridge, and of the seven non-commissioned officers in the color guard, six were killed or wounded.

The Fourth regiment was also in the vicinity of Chattanooga, but did not suffer any loss.

EVENTS OF 1864.

The Third regiment, which after the Indian ex- pedition had been ordered to Little Rock, Arkan- sas, on the 30th of March, 1864, had an engage- ment near Augusta, at Fitzhugh's Woods. Seven men were killed and sixteen wounded. General C. C. Andrews, in command of the force, had his horse killed by a bullet.

FIRST REGIMENT.

The First regiment after three year's service was mustered out at Fort Snelling, and on the 28th of April, 1864, held its last dress parade, in the presence of Governor Miller, who had once been their lieutenant-colonel and commander. In May some of its members re-enlisted as a battal- ion, and again joined the Army of the Potomac.

SIXTH, SEVENTH, NINTH AND TENTH REGIMENTS.

The Sixth regiment, which had been in the ex- pedition against the Sioux, in June, 1864, was as- signed to the 16th army corps, as was the Seventh, Ninth and Tenth, and on the 13th of July, near Tupelo, Mississippi, the Seventh, Ninth and Tenth, with portions of the Fifth, were in battle. Dur- ing the first day's fight Surgeon Smith, of the Seventh, was fatally wounded through the neck. On the morning of the 14th the battle began in earnest, and the Seventh, under Colonel W. R. Marshall, made a successful charge. Colonel Al- exander Wilkin, of the Ninth, was shot, and fell dead from his horse.

THE FOURTH REGIMENT.

On the 15th of October the Fourth regiment were engaged near Altoona, Georgia.

THE EIGHTH REGIMENT.

On the 7th of December the Eighth was in bat- tle near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and fourteen were killed and seventy-six wounded.

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OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

138

BATTLE OF NASHVILLE.

During the month of December the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth regiments did good ser- vice before Nashville. Colonel L. F. Hubbard, of the Fifth, commanding a brigade, after he had been knocked off his horse by a ball, rose, and on foot led his command over the enemy's works. Colonel W. R. Marshall, of the Seventh, in com- mand of a brigade, made a gallant charge, and Lieutenant-colonel S. P. Jennison, of the 'T'enth, one of the first on the enemy's parapet, received a severe wound.

MINNESOTA TROOPS IN 1865.

In the spring of 1865 the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth regiments were engaged in the siege of Mobile. The Second and Fourth regi- ments and First battery were with General Sher- man in his wonderful campaign, and the Eighth in the month of March was ordered to North Car- olina. The battalion, the remnant of the First, was with the Army of the Potomac until Lee's sur- render.

Arrangements were soon perfected for disband- ing the Union army, and before the close of the summer all the Minnesota regiments that had been on duty were discharged.

LIST OF MINNESOTA REGIMENTS AND TROOPS.

First, Organized April, 1831, Discharged May 5, 1864.

Second

July ..

July 11, 1865.

Third

Oct.

Dec.

Aug.

Fifth

May, 1862,

Sept.

Sixth

Aug.

Seventh

Eighth

Ninth

Tenth

Eleventh

1884

ARTILLERY.

First Regiment, Heavy, May, 1864. Discharged Sept. 1865.

BATTERIES.

First, October, 1861. Discharged June, 1865.

Second, Dec. ..

: July

Third, Feb. 1863 ·

Feb. 1866.

CAVALRY.

Rangers, March, 1863. Discharged Deo. 1863.

Brackett's, Oct. 1861.

June 1866.

2d Reg't, July, 1863.

SHARPSHOOTERS.

Company A, organized in 1861. B, .6 " 1882.

CHAPTER XXV.

STATE AFFAIRS FROM A. D. 1862 to A. D. 1882.

In consequence of the Sioux outbreak, Gov- ernor Ramsey called an extra session of the legis- lature, which on the 9th of September, 1862, as- sembled.

As long as Indian hostilities continued, the flow of immigration was checked, and the agricultural interests suffered; but notwithstanding the dis- turbed condition of affairs, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company laid ten miles of rail, to the Falls of St. Anthony.

FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE.

During the fall of 1862 Alexander Ramsey had again been elected governor, and on the 7th of January, 1863, delivered the annual message before the Fifth state legislature. During this session he was elected to fill the vacancy that would take place in the United States senate by the expira- tion of the term of Henry M. Rice, who had been a senator from the time that Minnesota was organ- ized as a state. After Alexander Ramsey became a senator, the lieutenant-governor, Henry A. Swift, became governor by constitutional provision.

GOVERNOR STEPHEN A. MILLER

At the election during the fall of 1863, Stephen A. Miller, colonel of the Seventh regiment, was elected governor by a majority of about seven thousand votes, Henry T. Wetles being his com- petitor, and representative of the democratic party. During Governor Miller's administration, on the 10th of November, 1865, two Sioux chiefs, Little Six and Medicine Bottle, were hung at Fort Snel- ling, for participation in the 1862 massacre.

GOVERNOR W. R. MARSHALL.

In the fall of 1865 William R. Marshall, who had succeeded his predecessor as colonel of the Seventh regiment, was nominated by the republi- can party for governor, and Henry M. Rice by the democratic party. The former was elected by about five thousand majority. In 1867 Governor Marshall was again nominated for the office, and Charles E. Flandrau was the democratic candidate, and he was again elected by about the same major- ity as before.

GOVERNOR HORACE AUSTIN.

Horace Austin, the judge of the Sixth judicial district, was in 1869 the republican candidate for governor, and received 27,238 votes, and George L. Otis, the democratic candidate, 25,401 votes. In 1871 Governor Austin was again nominated,

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST.

and received 45,883 votes, while 30,092 ballots were cast for Winthrop Young, the democratic candidate. The important event of his adminis- tration was the veto of an act of the legislature giving the internal improvement lands to certain railway corporations.

Toward the close of Governor Austin's adminis- tration, William Seeger, the state treasurer, was im- peached for a wrong use of public funds. He plead guilty and was disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust or profit in the state.

GOVERNOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS.

The republicans in the fall of 1873 nominated Cushman K. Davis for governor, who received 40,741 votes, while 35,245 ballots were thrown for the democratic candidate, Ara Barton.

The summer that he was elected the locust made its appearance in the land, and in certain regions devoured every green thing. One of the first acts of Governor Davis was to relieve the farmers who had suffered from the visitation of locusts. The legislature of 1874 voted relief, and the people of the state voluntarily contributed clothing and provisions.

During the administration of Governor Davis the principle was settled that there was nothing in the charter of a railroad company limiting the power of Minnesota to regulate the charges for freight and travel.

WOMEN ALLOWED TO VOTE FOR SCHOOL OFFICERS.

At the election in November, 1875, the people sanctioned the following amendment to the con- stitution: "The legislature may, notwithstanding anything in this article, [Article 7, section 8] pro- vide by law that any woman at the age of twenty-one years and upwards, may vote at any election held for the purpose of chosing any officer of schools, or upon any measure relating to schools, and may also provide that any such woman shall be eligible to hold any office solely pertaining to the management of schools."

GOVERNOR J. B. PILLSBURY.

John S. Pillsbury, the republican nominee, at the election of November, 1875, received 47,073 for governor while his democratic competitor, D. L. Buell obtained 35,275 votes. Governor Pillsbury in his inaugural message, delivered on the 7th of January, 1876, urged upon the legislature, as his predecessors had done, the importance of provid- ing for the payment of the state railroad bonds.

RAID ON NORTHFIELD BANK.

On the 6th of September, 1876, the quiet citi-

zens of Minnesota were excited by a telegraphic announcement that a band of outlaws from Mis- souri had, at mid-day, ridden into the town of Northfield, recklessly discharging firearms, and proceeding to the bank, killed the acting cashier in an attempt to secure its funds. Two of the desperadoes were shot in the streets, by firm resi- dents, and in a. brief period, parties from the neighboring towns were in pursuit of the assassins. After a long and weary search four were sur- rounded in a swamp in Watonwan county, and one was killed, and the others captured.

At the November term of the fifth district court held at Faribault, the criminals were arraigned, and under an objebtionable statute, by pleading guilty, received an imprisonment for life, instead of the merrited death of the gallows.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST.

As early as 1874 in some of the counties of Minnesota, the Rocky Mountain locust, of the same genus, but a different species from the Eu- rope and Arctic locust, driven eastward by the failure of the succulent grasses of the upper Mis- souri valley appeared as a short, stout-legged, de- vouring army, and in 1875 the myriad of eggs deposited were hatched out, and the insects born within the state, flew to new camping grounds, to begin their devastations.

In the spring the locust appeared in some coun- ties, but by an ingenious contrivance of sheet iron, covered with tar, their numbers were speedily reduced. It was soon discovered that usually but one hatching of eggs took place in the same district, and it was evident that the crop of 1877 would be remunerative. When the national Thanksgiving was observed on the 26th of No- vember nearly 40,000,000 bushels of wheat had been garnered, and many who had sown in tears, devoutly thanked Him who had given plenty, and meditated upon the words of the Hebrew Psalm- ist, "He maketh peace within thy borders and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat."

GOVERNOR PILLSBURY'S SECOND TERM.

At the election in November, 1877, Governor Pillsbury was elected a second time, receiving 59,701, while 39,247 votes were cast for William L. Banning, the nominee of the democratic party. At this election the people voted to adopt two im- portant amendments to the constitution.

BIENNIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE,

One provided for a biennial, in place of the an- nual session of the legislature, in these words:

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OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

"The legislature of the state shall consist of a senate and house of representatives, who shall meet biennially, at the seat of government of the state, at such time as shall be prescribed by law, but no session shall exceed the term of sixty days."

CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOLS.

The other amendment excludes Christian and other religious instructions from all of the edu- cational institutions of Minnesota in these words: "But in no case, shall the moneys derived as afore- said, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys, or property be appropriated or used for the sup- port of schools wherein the distinctive doctrines, or creeds or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect, are promulgated or taught."

IMPEACHMENT OF JUDGE PAGE.

The personal unpopularity of Sherman Page, judge of the Tenth judicial district, culminated by the house of representatives of the legislature of 1878, presenting articles, impeaching him, for con- duct unbecoming a judge: the senate sitting as a court, examined the charges, and on the 22d of June, he was ac quitted.

GOVERNOR PILLSBURY'S THIRD TERM.

The republican party nominated John S. Pills- bury for a third term as governor, and at the elec- tion in November, 1879, he received 57,471 votes, while 42,444 were given for Edmund Rice, the rep- resentative of the democrats.

With a persistence which won the respect of the opponents of the measure, Governor Pillsbury con- tinued to advocate the payment of the state rail- road bonds. The legislature of 1870 submitted an amendment to the constitution, by which the "in- ternal improvement lands" were to be sold and the proceeds to be used in cancelling the bonds, by the bondholders agreeing to purchase the lands at a certain sum per acre. The amendment was adopted by a vote of the people, but few of the bondholders accepted the provisions, and it failed to effect the proposed end. The legislature of 1871 passed an act for a commission to make an equitable adjustment of the bonds, but at a special election in May it was rejected.

The legislature of 1877 passed an act for calling in the railroad bonds, and issueing new bonds, which was submitted to the people at a special election on the 12th of June, and not accepted.

The legislature of 1878 proposed a constitu- tional amendment offering the internal improve- ment lands in exchange for railroad bonds, and the

people at the November election disapproved of the proposition. Against the proposed amendment 45,669 votes were given, and only 26,311 in favor. FIRST BIENNIAL SESSION.

The first biennial session of the legislature con- vened in January, 1881, and Governor Pillsbury again, in his message of the 6th of January, held up to the view of the legislators the dishonored railroad bonds, and the duty of providing for their settlement. In his argument he said:

"The liability having been voluntarily incurred, whether it was wisely created or not is foreign to the present question. It is certain that the obli- gations were fairly given for which consideration was fairly received; and the state having chosen foreclosure as her remedy, and disposed of the property thus acquired unconditionally as her own, the conclusion seems to me irresistible that she assumed the payment of the debt resting upon such property by every principle of law and equity. And, moreover, as the state promptly siezed the railroad property and franchises, ex- pressly to indemnify her for payment of the bonds, it is difficult to see what possible justification there can be for her refusal to make that payment."

The legislature in March passed an act for the adjustment of these bonds, which being brought before the supreme court of the state was declared void. The court at the same time declared the amendment to the state constitution, which pro- hibited the settlement of these bonds, without the assent of a popular vote, to be a violation of the clause in the constitution of the United States of America prohibiting the impairment of the obliga- tion of contracts. This decision cleared the way for final action. Governor Pillsbury called an extra session of the legislature in October, 1881, which accepted the offer of the bondholders, to be satisfied with a partial payment, and made provis- ions for cancelling bonds, the existence of which for more than twenty years had been a humiliation to a large majority of the thoughtful and intelli- gent citizens of Minnesota, and a blot upon the otherwise fair name of the commonwealth.

GOVERNOR HUBBARD.

Lucius F. Hubbard, who had been colonel of the Fifth Regiment, was nominated by the repub- lican party, and elected in November, 1881, by s large majority over the democratic nominee, R. W. Johnson. He entered upon his duties in Jan- uary, 1882, about the time of the present chapter going to press.

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HISTORY OF STATE INSTITUTIONS.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CAPITOL-PENITENTIARY-UNIVERSITY-DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTION-SCHOOL FOR BLIND AND IMBECILES - INSANE ASYLUMS- STATE REFORM SCHOOL-NORMAL SCHOOLS.

Among the public buildings of Minnesota, the capitol is entitled to priority of notice.

TEMPORARY CAPITOLS.

In the absence of a capitol the first legislature of the territory of Minnesota convened on Mon- day, the 3d of September, 1849, at St. Paul, in a log building covered with pine boards painted white, two stories high, which was at the time a public inn, afterward known as the Central House, and kept by Robert Kennedy. It was situated on the high bank of the river. The main portion of the building was used for the library, secretary's office, council chamber and house of representa- tives' hall, while the annex was occupied as the dining-room of the hotel, with rooms for travelers in the story above. Both houses of the legisla- ture met in the dining-hall to listen to the first message of Governor Ramsey.

The permanent location of the capital was not settled by the first legislature, and nothing could be done toward the erection of a capitol with the $20,000 appropriated by congress, as the perma- nent seat of government had not been designated.

William R. Marshall, since governor, at that time a member of the house of representatives from St. Anthony, with others, wished that point to be designated as the capital.

Twenty years after, in some remarks before the Old Settlers' Association of Hennepin county, Ex- Governor Marshall alluded to this desire. He said: "The original act [of congress ] made St. Paul the temporary capital, but provided that the legislature might determine the permanent capital. A bill was introduced by the St. Paul delegation to fix the permanent capital there. I opposed it, endeavoring to have St. Anthony made the seat of government. We succeeded in defeat- ing the bill which sought to make St. Paul the permanent capital, but we could not get through the bill fixing it at St. Anthony. So the question remained open in regard to the permanent capital until the next session in 1851, when a compromise was effected by which the capitol was to be at St. Paul, the State University at St. Anthony, and

the Penitentiary at Stillwater. At an early day, as well as now, caricatures and burlesques were in vogue. Young William Randall, of St. Paul, now deceased, who had some talent in the graphic line, drew a picture of the efforts at capitol re- moval. It was a building on wheels, with ropes attached, at which I was pictured tugging, while Brunson, Jackson, and the other St. Paul mem- bers, were holding and checking the wheels, to prevent my moving it, with humorous speeches proceeding from the mouths of the parties to the contest."

The second territorial legislature assembled on the 2d of January, 1871, in a brick building three stories in height, which stood on Third street in St. Paul, on a portion of the site now occupied by the Metropolitan Hotel, and before the session closed it was enacted that St. Paul should be the permanent capital, and commissioners were ap- pointed to expend the congressional appropriation for a capitol.

When the Third legislature assembled, in Jan- uary, 1852, it was still necessary to occupy a hired building known as Goodrich's block, which stood on Third street just below the entrance of the Merchants' Hotel. In 1853, the capitol not being finished, the fourth legislature was obliged to meet in a two-story brick building at the corner of Third and Minnesota streets, and directly in the rear of the wooden edifice where the first legisla- ture in 1849 had met.

THE CAPITOL.

After it was decided, in 1851, that St. Paul was to be the capital of the territory, Charles Bazille gave the square bounded by Tenth, Eleventh, Wabasha, and Cedar streets for the capitol. A plan was adopted by the building commission- ers, and the contract was taken by Joseph Daniels, a builder, who now resides in Washington as a lawyer and claim agent. The building was of brick, and at first had a front portico, supported by four Ionic columns. It was two stories above the basement, 139 feet long and nearly 54 feet in width, with an extension in the rear 44x52 feet. In July, 1853, it was so far completed as to allow the governor to occupy the executive office.

SPEECHES OF EX-PRESIDENT FILLMORE AND GEORGE BANCROFT.

Before the war it was used not only by the legis- lature, and for the offices of state, but was granted

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OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

for important meetings. On the 8th of June a large excursion party, under the auspices of the builders of the Chicago & Rock Island railway, arrived at St. Paul from the latter point, in five large steamboats, and among the passengers were some of the most distinguished scholars, statesmen and divines of the republic. At night the popu- lation of St. Paul filled the capitol, and the more sedate listened in the senate chamber to the stir- ring speeches of Ex-President Fillmore, and the historian, George Bancroft, who had been secre- tary of the navy, and minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, while at a later period of the night the youthful portion of the throng danced in the reom then used by the supreme court.

The "Pioneer" of the next day thus alludes to the occasion: "The ball in honor of the guests of the excursion came off, in fine style. At an early hour, the assembly having been called to or- der, by the Hon. H. H. Sibley, a welcoming speech was delivered by Governor Gorman, and replies were made by Ex-President Fillmore and the learned historian Bancroft. * * * * * * The dancing then commenced and was kept up till a late hour, when the party broke up, the guests returning to the steamers, and our town's people to their homes, all delighted with the rare enter- tainment."

HON. W. H. SEWARD'S SPEECH.

On the 8th of September, 1860, the capitol was visited by Hon. William H. Seward. At mid-day he met by invitation the members of the Histori- cal Society in their rooms at the Capitol, and an address of welcome was made by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Anderson, of Rupert's Land, to which he made a brief response.

In the afternoon, crowds assembled in the grounds to listen to an expected speech, and every window of the capitol was occupied with eager faces. Standing upon the front steps, he ad- dressed the audience in the language of a patriot and a statesman, and among his eloquent utter- ances, was the following prediction.

"Every step of my progress since I reached the northern Misissippi has been attended by a great and agreeable surprise. I had, early, read the works in which the geographers had described the scenes upon which I was entering, and I had studied them in the finest productions of art, but still the grandeur and luxuriance of this region

had not been conceived. Those sentinel walls that look down upon the Mississippi, seen as I beheld them, in their abundant verdure, just when the earliest tinge of the fall gave luxuriance to the forests, made me think how much of taste and genius had been wasted in celebrating the high- lands of Scotland, before the civilized man had reached the banks of the Mississippi; and the beautiful Lake Pepin, seen at sunset, when the autumnal green of the hills was lost in the deep blue, and the genial atmosphere reflected the rays of the sun, and the skies above seemed to move down and spread their gorgeous drapery on the scene, was a piece of upholstery, such as none but the hand of nature could have made, and it was but the vestibule of the capitol of the state * of Minnesota. * * * * * * * *

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History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 24

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 547

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547