USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94
The unhewn log residence, improvised for their accommodation, was 12x14 feet, and stood about 300 yards above the stone warehouse just below the upper spring. It was built into the side-hill. Brown and Miller, being cripples, remained in the shanty, while the others went to work for J. M. Levy, chopping wood to keep the "pot boiling" in the cabin. Near spring they all came back and commenced cutting steamboat wood.
The four men were soon discharged, and the Browns and Hiner continued chopping and log- ging, using the timber on the island across the river. During the summer of 1849, Charles Brown took the team back to Baraboo, and brought over the wagon and supplies left there. In 1850, David Brown, who was not related to the Browns already here, came into the settlement, and bought a few acres from the Browns. This Brown was an easteru man, and had made Job's acquaintance in the Mexican war. He put up a building and did some chopping, but in two years sold out. Mr. Hiner also sold out in 1851, and went to Dubuque and worked at his trade awhile, but finally came back to the county and opened a hotel in Caledo- nia. The original claim staked out was from the mouth of Wild Cat Creek to the upper spring, and was supposed to go back to "Sundown." Hiner sold his one-third interest in the whole bus- ness to Henry Deshner, who yet lives in Wild Cat valley.
The next person to shed the light of his pres- ence as a denizen of Wild Cat was William Morri- son, who became, on the river, a noted character as "Wild Cat Jack." With him came Willard Blair,
and they located a claim on the river north of Brown's place, and purchased a shanty of the Browns. Blair became disabled by sickness, and Boon returned to Galena.
If Wild Cat Jack had lived in Baltimore he would have been called a "plug ugly," if in an- other locality he would have been called a "thug," or a "shoulder hitter." He was a desperado, who was only happy in the midst of a terrific row, where there was real danger. The sentiment of fear was wanting in his bosom. Logging and rafting was his principal business. Among the river men, the trappers, the Indians, and settlers, it may well be imagined there were some hard cases, but Wild Cat Jack was afraid of none of them.
About two acres of his purchase was broken and enclosed by a picket fence, as he was a worker as well as a fighter. Job Brown and Wild Cat Jack were soon fast friends, and they were a couple of hard citizens, who, for prudential reasons, were carefully let alone when muscular exercise was on the alert. As a specimen of their recklessness a story of their foolhardiness will be related. One day, after they had just come down the river, both were standing on top of the bluff, when one chal- lenged the other for a race down the precipitous declivity, for one dollar, and down they went at the imminent peril of their lives. Both were powerful men, and it was with the greatest diffi- culty that they could keep their feet, but on they rushed, clearing brush eight feet high, and making strides forty feet long, as Brown now solemnly claims; down they flew, and alighting, one on each side of the shanty, met breast to breast in front of their door, making a dead heat. Near this very place, a few years later, a huge boulder became detached, shot down with terrific speed and actually went through a shanty, demolishing a table just set for dinner, crossed the street and rolled into the river. At a later time another rock went through a house into the cellar. Looking up that dizzy height it is a matter of profound astonishment that any one should attempt such a feat, and it is equally marvelous that they got down alive. As it was, the new boots that each had on were entirely demolished.
Jack's marriage was in keeping with the man, it was a runaway affair, exemplifying the adage that their is no accounting for tastes, as she was a beau- tiful, unobtrusive, and modest young woman.
Digitized by Google
277
GENERAL REMARKS.
Finally, Jack, with a Mr. Hastings, went down the river to the mouth of the Bad Ax, and founded that village, vibrating between the two places for a time, but finally selling out his Brownsville property to G. R. West, of Dubuque, and it was afterwards made into West's addition.
As might have been expected, this noted char- acter came to his death during one of his desperate moods. He had stolen a raft of logs of Peter Cam- eron, of LaCrosse, and taken it down the river. He was suspected, and Job Brown informed Cam- eron that there were others interested in the piracy. This was told to Jack as if Job had "squealed" on him, and, Jack came up with a "pepper-box" re- volver, with five barrels loaded and one empty, evidently intending, after he had dispatched Brown, to pretend that it was an accident, and with this view he blustered around town, snapping the weapon on the empty barrel. Brown attempted to placate the man, but to no purpose, and while seated on his steps, Jack flourished his pistol, and setting it so as to miss fire, as he supposed, placed the muzzle to his own head, and pulling the trig- ger fell dead on the spot, with a bullet through his brain. It was afterward learned that Charles Brown was inside with a thirteen-inch pistol, with the "drop" on Jack if he had made his threatened murderous assault upon his brother. Of course this affair created a great excitement at the time, but it was a matter of congratulation that no one but himself was responsible for his taking off.
GENERAL REMARKS.
This, perhaps, somewhat prolix account of those personal matters, has been given to show the dis- advantages under which the hardy pioneers pro- cured the homes which now seem so comfortable. Whatever of romance adhered to the hardy colo- nists was abundantly compensated for by hard work. Contrast the journey of that devoted party through the roadless and bridgeless state of Wis- consin to LaCrosse, with a party on a like journey to-day. Instead of weeks of labor and toil, priva- tion and suffering, with cold and hunger, a seat is taken in a palace car at noon in Milwaukee, an unexceptional supper is partaken at Fox's in Port- age, the passenger retires upon a downy couch, and in the morning awakes to find himself in La- Crosse, having lost only half a day on the journey. We who enjoy these blessings would be less than human if we were not filled with gratitude to these early settlers, who paved the way, and actually
made the condition of things we find possible. At this time the confines of civilization was on the lakes, Chicago had not many thousand people, Milwaukee was just beginning to be a village, LaCrosse was a mere vedette, as an outpost of civil- ization. There was nothing in Minnesota, except the intrinsic merit of the location, to attract peo- ple from their more or less comfortable homes in the East, or on the other side of the water. The hope as to the future which "springs eternal in the human heart" was what lured them on, and al- though those who came were usually regarded by the friends they left behind as being adventurers, soldiers of fortune, who, if they ever returned at all, would indeed be fortunate. They were a sturdy race, who realized the inequality of the struggle in the old States or countries, and resolved to plant themselves where merit would not be sup- pressed by traditions.
The men who came were, as a rule, enterprising, openhearted and sympathizing, they were good neighbors, and so good neighborhoods were created, and they illustrated the idea of the brotherhood of man more by example than by quoting creeds. With a bravery that never blanched in the presence of the most appalling danger, they nevertheless were tender, kind, and considerate in the presence of misfortune, and their deficiencies in outward manifestations of piety was more than compensated by their love and re- gard for humanity.
And if this meed of praise is justly due to the men, and it certainly is, what shall be said in com- mendation of the heroic women, who braved the vicissitudes of frontier life, endured the absence of home, friends and old associations, whose tender ties must have wrung all hearts as they were severed. The devotion which would lead to such a breaking away, to follow a father, a husband or a son into the trackless waste beyond the Missis- sippi, where gloomy apprehensions must have arisen in the mind, is above all praise. The value of the part taken by the noble women who first came to this uninhabited region cannot be over estimated. Although by nature liberal, they prac- ticed the most rigid economy, and oftrn at criti- cal times preserved order, reclaiming the men from despair during gloomy periods, and their ex- ample of industry constantly admonished him to renewed exertion, and the instincts of womanhood constantly encouraged integrity and manhood.
Digitized by Google
278
HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY.
As to the effects of frontier life upon those who have secured homes west of the Mississippi, a few observations may not be inappropriate.
Years ago the Rev. Dr. Bushnell, a noted divine in the East during the last generation, preached a sermon on the barbarous tendencies of civilization in the West, and on this the Reverend gentleman predicated an urgent appeal to Christianity to pat forth renewed and strenuous efforts to save the West from a relapse into barbarism. This ten- dency was supposed to result from the disruption of social and religious ties, the mingling of hetero- geneous elements, and the removal of the external restraints, so common, and supposed to be so pa- tent in older communities. Dr. Bushnel did not have a sufficiently extended view of the subject, for in looking over the history of the past we find that in a nomadic condition there is never any real progress in refinement. Institutions for the elevation of the race must be planted deep in the soil before they can raise their hands in beauty and majesty toward heaven, and bear fruit for the enlightenment of the nations. The evils of which Dr. Bushnel was so afraid are merely temporary in their character, and will have no lasting impres- sion. What actually happens is this, at first there is an obvious increase of human freedom, but the elements of self government everywhere largely predominates, and the fusion of the races which is inevitable, will in due time create a composite na- tionality, in which the degrading characteristics of each race shall be eliminated, and the admirable qualities of each be developed, producing a na- tionality, or a race, as unlike as it must be super- ior to those that have preceded it. Even now, be- fore the first generation has passed away, society in the West has outgrown the irritation of the transplanting, and there are no more vicious ele- ments in society here than in the East, as the criminal statistics will abundantly show.
OTHER SETTLEMENTS.
A settlement was made in Hokah in April, 1851, by Edward Thompson Esq. His claim was where the village now is. He began the erection of a saw-mill the first year, and it is claimed, sawed the first log in this region, west of the Mississippi, and the next year ground the first sack of flour.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.
The people of Houston county are largely Prot- estant, with some settlements of Catholics, both Irish and German. Some of the towns have a
large preponderance of Norwegians, who usually are Lutherans, and are a good class of citizens, uniting with the native element in all reasonable efforts to sustain churches and schools. In 1864, the Catholic Church was built in Caledonia, and the same year Mr. Charles Brown, of Brownsville, built a church at his own expense, and freely gave its use to all the Protestant denominations who might desire to occupy it. About the first service in the county must have been in 1852, when a Baptist minister preached in a private house, and although there were no professors of religion pres- ent, when the hat was passed around each man pres- ent, the number being 18, deposited a silver dol- lar, which probably, as an average, exceeded any collection since taken up in the county. Rev. Mr. Crist, a well-known pioneer Methodist divine, preached in Hokah in 1853.
Early attention was paid to education, the first schools being sustained by subscription, and kept in log houses used as residences, or in sheds attached thereto. But as soon as the growing children necessitated school houses, they were laid up by a "Bee" of the whole neighborhood, who bringing a few logs apiece, the building would soon be covered in, and a place for schools, debat- ing clubs, religious and other meetings, would be provided. Many of these have been replaced with more commodious structures.
NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
Among the early settlers, those who were in the county previous to 1856, may be mentioned the following, who were more or less prominent, and many of whose names are mentioned in the town histories, or in connection with county affairs. It is not pretended that this is a complete list of the residents or heads of families of the county at that time, as from the very nature of the case, in the absence of a census list taken at the time, such an enrollment would now be utterly impossible. Many of these will, however, be recognized by the residents of the county, who will recall their sev- eral characteristics. Job Brown, Charles Brown, L. D. Smith, W. W. Bennett, David Brown, Mark Shelly, James Hiner, S. D. Selfridge, Daniel McLaren, D. B. Saddock, L. W. Paddock, Joseph Schenken, A. D. Sprague, Thos. Lee, Eugene Marshall, John Montgomery, James Smith, Hiram James Abbey, Stephen D. Butts, Samuel Dean, William Oxford, J. Armstrong, Enoch C. Young, Benjamin W. Lawrence, James H. Wing, G. N.
Digitized by Google
279
MARRIAGES AMONG THE EARLY SETTLERS.
Thompson, Charles S. Phelps, J. B. Place, Wm. B. Smith, Washington T. Robinson, J. H. Smith, Edwin H. Stewart, Charles G. Cunningham, Sam- uel McPhail, De Witt C. Jefferson, Ralph C. Young, A. T. Hay, J. C. Martin, Charles McIlrath, Edward Thompson, Alex. J. Staley, Frederick Fisher, Z. P. Herrick, A. D. La Dell, Mathew Williams, David Billings, Oliver Dunbar, J. C. Sheldon, D. P. Bil- lings, J. B. McIntire, G. R. West, Ferguson McDonald, John Vincent, Cyrus B. Sinclair, T. N. Morton, Harvey F. McAdams, H. H. Hawkins, Wm. Roswell, Theodore G. Mills, Wm. H. Tucker, Wm. H. Snure, Thomas H. Conniff, E. D. Camp- bell, Henry Roberts, Osmund Larsen, Cyrus B. Sinclair, Edward Deddler, James Borland, John McHenry, Oscar W. Streeter, Thomas Lynch, James Stewart, N. Carroll, M. M. Taylor, Joseph Barnes, J. H. Gillett, Geo. W. Blackwell, J. N. Stewart, C. W. Thompson, L. L. West, J. M. Thompson, James C. Ackley, Alpheus W. Young, John W. Smith, Benjamin Marlow, Stephen Pierce, W. B. Butterfield, E. A. Goodel, G. Rust, Stewart Kennedy, Benjamin Swan, Henry Gillett, John Maddens, Wm. Kenny, Patrick Manny, John S. Brown, Frederick Gluck, Adolph Knoblach, An- ton Mayer, Harvey Gluck, Andrew Stanton, Peter L. Swartout, Wm. Richmond, M. Richmond, Ben- jamin Marlow, Alex. Marlow, Tolle Halvorsen, Thomas Halvorsen, Hans Moe, Ole Knudsen, Hen- ry Wilson, Theophilus F. Maniford, Anders Mi- chaelson, M. B. Rome, Owen Chatfield, Thos. McRoberts, Frederick O. Glager, John L. Jones, Samuel Jones, Aaron Gregsby, Christopher Clark, . John Lilly, Jesse R. Baily.
Among those who have been prominent on the county board since its first organization may be mentioned the following: Samuel McPhail, Ole Knudson, Jacob Lovesee, James Smith, Samuel Armstrong, Alexander Batchellor, James C. Day, Henry I. Fox, Frederick Gluck, Alonzo Adams, Charles H. Brown, John Brown, Stephen Bugbee, Daniel Cameron, D. F. Case, C. C. Chase, Robert Kenny, Joseph A. Melvin, C. W. Thompson, Mathew Williams, John R. Anderson, S. D. Sel- fridge, Isaac N. Thompson, Louis Pound, John A. Anderson, J. Gregory, D.P.Temple, John S.Schmin- den, W. F. Dunbar, G. F. Potter, W. F. Webber, Ed. Bogan, V. T. Beeby, W. E. Potter, E. P. Dor- ival, F. N. Goodrich, John MoNelly, H. D. Gurley, J. Horner, Abijah Lamb, M. Lewis, H. D. Gur- ey, Isaac Holmes, O. E. Gail, Walter Colleran, H.
Chapel, Ed. Thompson, Robert McArthur, Jacob Thompson.
MARRIAGES AMONG THE EARLY SETTLERS.
The first marriage recorded was that of Mr. Norman J. Drew to Miss Sophia Buchanan, which was solemized by David Brown, Justice of the Peace, and recorded by James A. McCan, Clerk. This was on the 24th of July, 1854.
A list of the Justices of the Peace who performed the marriage ceremony in the county from its or- ganization up to the time the Territory became a State, is here presented: David Brown, M. M. Tay- lor, Samuel McPhail, Fred. R. Gluck, James Smith, George Cannon, Ole Knudson, L. D. Selfridge, James Smith, George Powlesland, Wm. D. Van Dorn, James Stewart, Ralph L. Young, John H. Smith, H. Gillett, F. N. Goodrich, Eben D. Eaton,, L. L. West, W. T. Hinkley, A. McLaren, Freder- ick Olslager, John G. Cook, John A. Anderson, ' Elihu Hunt, Patrick Fitzpatrick, John Paddock, Edward Thompson, Jacob Webster, Edmund Mackintire, Edward Bogan, I. E. Crosby, Samuel Aikins, Lyman B. Jefferson, Benton S. Andrews, and J. P. Schaller.
Here follows a list of the clergymen who solemn- ized marriages in the county while under a Terri- torial government: Revs. T. O. Nelson, E. T. Grant, E. A. Goodell, Edmund Clow, Robert Wil- liams, John Hooper, Daniel Wipinger, Patrick O'Farrel, Father Roster, Fritz Christian Clauson, Spencer Carr, and John L. Dyer.
MARRIAGES IN THE COUNTY WHILE MINNESOTA WAS STILL A TERRITORY.
Norman S. Drew and Sophia Buchanan. Geo. Brauer and Catharine Whitman. Charles Garner and Harriet Sweney. Thomas H. Parmley and Margaret Armstrong. Hiram Griffin and Agolonia James. Benj. F. Santobin and Bridget Burns. John Nelson and Mary B. Anderson. Christian Ziegler and Sophia Abraham. Amund K. Dahe and Mary Peterson. Olaf Berntson and Susanna Peterson. Andrew Magnuson and Anna C. Carlson. John Whitlow and Elizabeth Coz. Jacob Swagler and Hannah Cox. Louis Bremer and Rosa Kaur. Sigur Schar and Christina Henderson. Christopher Larson and Rosale Oleson. Jacob Krarer and Anna Abrepart.
Digitized by Google
280
HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY.
Christian Lamen and Elizabeth Knudson. John Rops and Hily Hearts. John N. Kline and Catherine Wood. A. J. Armstrong and Louisa Hale. Lars Johnson and Anna Bingtson. Andrew J. Shaw and Martha Ann Leek. Wyman Warren and Martha Tibbets. Peter Lee and Lavinia Lee. Frederick Olstager and Louisa Eckart. Francis Kitzinger and Wilhelmina Kitzinger. Th. Murray and Mary Clasiok. Evan Johnson and Julia George. A. A. Groner and Elizabeth Anderson. Gustavus N. Thompson and Abigail Young. Cornelius Brushnarhun and Catherine Ryan. Jorgen Johnson and Jane Olson. James A. Rice and Lucy Landrum. Hendrick Henderson and Martha Peterson. Benj. Swan and Dorcas Wilson. Wm. C. Marlow and Zerilda Jane Davis. Louis Herring and Adaline P. Paddock. S. Henry Knox and Eveline Armstrong. Joseph Pendleton and Barthena Andrews. Frederick Kemer and Elmira House. Ensign McDonald and Emily Manen. Philo Haigh and Caroline Doney. John Sheely and Rebecca Srouf. Peter Michael and Anna Louisa Walla. Ole Oleson and Matilda Christianson. Nicholas Fisch and Margaret Layman. Frank Johnson and Anna Leman. Amasa Gleason and Harriet Spaulding. Joseph Rein and S. Basnin Deshner. Samuel G. Jones and Harriet Beals. Joshua H. Bye and Sophia I. Sunday. Herman Peterson and Jadno Johnson. Wm. A. Todd and Julia F. Leigh. James Noyes and Cynthia M. Gile. Edward Halliday and Helen M. Hackett. Ole Thompson and Helen Olsen. Enge Olsen and Caroline Peterson. Albert Leach and Martha McDonald. Daniel N. Gates and Sarah A. Dunbar. Henry Chapslod and Sarah Ann Stewart. Hans O. Berdahl and Martha Olson. Martin Mason and Caroline Thompson. Andrew Todd and Mary Calhoun. Valentine Weimer and Caroline Splitter. William Leman and Mary E. Sinclair. Wilson Daniels and Susan Cook. Ole Embriokson and Johana Jameson.
John Yahn and Mary Eliza Offley. F. A. T. Goeshel and Margaret Lerpp. Nels Olson and Serry Everson.
Knud Johnson and Mary Johnsdatter. Teman Gilbertson and Anna Nelson. Peter Schlabach and Wilhelmina Maier. Adolphus Knoblach and Sophia Maier. Ole Andrew Bye and Catherine Nelson. Phillip Jacobus and Louisa Ross. Louis Schelley and Louisa Jane Addleman. James H. Williams and Martha S. Hiner. Hinnery Wieltzen and Catherine Schminden. Henry L. Hackett and Mary Ann Halliday. John Schminden and Catherine Becket. David Lynn and Sarah Haze. Knud Emerson and Bertha S. Peterson. L. A. Groner and Gelene A. Gilbertson. A. D. Sprague and Lucy Elmira Williams. Ole Bottleson and Isabel Paulson. George Halliday and Sophronia Gray. James Jameson and Martha Iverson. Philip Dumer and Elizabeth Reinard. Aranda Kellogg and Desdemonia Pierre. John J. Moreland and Hannah Smith. Thomas Fellows and Angenia Pendel. Frederick Burow and Emilie Freischmidt. Daniel Reup and Christina Ehling. Andrew Gilbertson and Matilda Oleson. George Oleson and Cornelia Knudson. Ausmund Ausmundson and Ann Benson. Charles Rater and Ann Albertson Riebe. Geo. Appleby and Louisa J. Srouf. Thomas C. Wilber and Nancy Ann Cramer. William King and Maria Colby. Thomas Erickson and July Oleson. Tarcol Tostenson and Caroline Oleson. James Wing and Ruth Ann Gilbert. Benjamin Marlow and Elizabeth Case. Martin Ryan and Sarah Moffatt. Frederick Hammer and Wilhelmina Riebe.
Davis S. Sherman and Mary A. Guild. Michael Lally and Anne Burns. Joseph Smith and Catherine Sherman. Ole Herbrunson and Caroline Oleson. Wm. Graham Campbell and Sarah M. Cameron. Christopher Gehery and Margaret Shebler. Henry B. Allen and Mary Oleson. Ole Oleson and Sigory Olestet.
Daniel Kline and Catherine Moote. Tolleff Oleson and Christy Evensdatter. Dan. S. Edson and Martha Halverson.
Digitized by Google
281
ANECDOTES OF EARLY TIMES.
Spafford Williams and Martha Downing. Peter Hanson and Kari Jacobsdatter. Albert Oleson and Matilda Olverson. George Fisk and Hellen Augusta Bruce. William Herring and Rebecca Bailey. Anthony Devine and Elizabeth Ann Snure. Andrew M. Rood and Guri Johnson. Wm. N. Wilson,and Sarah E. Tuper. Ole Olson and Margaret Thorgrimsdatter. Bendt Johnson and Jane Johnson. Joseph M. Riley and Mary Alexander. Abraham Wilson and Sarah Thompson. John Muns and Phebe Cochran. Knud Knudson and Anne Olesdatter. Johannes Peterson and Inge Maria Jorgensoat- ter.
Helge Halvorsen and Kari Olsdatter. Jonas Svendsen and Mette Christine Jonsdat- ter.
Thomas Griffith and Martha Jane McPherson. Simon Neilson and Kari Ericksdatter.
Knud Olsen and Bertha Pedersdatter.
The last here recorded was solemnized on the 26th of July, 1850. It is not unlikely that many of the names after having been handled by some of the Justices in those primitive times, and tran- scribed from their manuscript to the record, to be reproduced here, have been so transformed in their orthography that their parents would not recog- nize them now.
EARLY CERTIFICATES .- While most of the re- corded certificates of marriages, although not in any uniform style, are well written documents. Some of them, as specimens of of literary struggles, should not be forgotten. Here is one:
"Memorandom maid this 11th day of may, 1857, by and between John Schminden and Catharine Berket has agreed to get married by the under- signed Justice of the Peace, and that said John Schminden is 21 years of age, and also Catharine Berket is over eighteen years old, and said parties has agreed to get married in Presence of the un- dersigned Witness, and boath parties has declared that neither of them never was married before.
Witnessed by
JOHNANNA FITZPATRICK, his JOHN X CHARENA. mark. "I do hereby certify that I married the above
parties on the 11th day of May, A. D. 1857. PATRICK FITZPATRICK, Justice of the Peace."
The above mentioned "parties" were certainly much married, although not to their discredit. This same Justice has several other certificates in the early records which stamp him as an original character.
A FEW ANECDOTES OF EARLY TIMES.
Anthony Huyck, a native of Allegany county New York, came to Houston county when twenty- six years of age, in 1852, and located a claim in a rough way, a mile and a half from where Cale- donia now is, where John Burns lives. Peter L. Swarthout came with him, and they were a jolly pair of bachelors. They had their choice of lands between the Mississippi and any uncertain point west, and selected both timber and prairie to the amount of 320 acres between them. After break- ing forty acres Huyck left Swarthout with the claim and went on to Spring Grove. Mr. Huyck lived quite a while alone, doing his own house . work, cooking, washing, but probablo no ironing, mending and such domestic work. His early edu- cation in the culinary art had been neglected, and it was done under trying circumstances, which, al - though sometimes exasperating to a waiting stom- ach, were at other times ludicrous in the extreme. One or two instances alone, will be related.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.