History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 62

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

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GEORGE HOFFMAN is a native of Germany, born on the 12th of May, 1835, in Bavaria. At the age of twelve years he came to America, locating in Buffalo, New York, where he learned the shoe- maker's trade. He moved to Canada in 1854, and was engaged at his trade in several cities of the provinces, thence to Detroit, Michigan, and later to Illinois, first in Chicago, then in Princeton and Kewanee. In 1858, Mr. Hoffman made a trip to the Rocky mountains, but soon returned. He was united in marriage on the 1st of March, 1860, with Miss Barbara Schrut. During the rebellion he enlisted in Company F, of the Eleventh Missouri Infantry, and served fourteen months. In 1866, he located in Brownsville, and for nine years car- ried on a shoe shop, but since then has been en- gaged in a saloon. Of ten children born to him, four are living.

AUGUST KNAUTZ was born in Prussia on the 1st

of July, 1838. He came with his parents to Amer- iea in 1855, locating near Shullsburg, Wisconsin, where August learned the shoemaker's trade. In 1858, he came to Brownsville and resided on a farm with his brother-in-law until 1863, when he came to the village and opened a shoe shop. He was joined in matrimony on the 10th of December, 1866, with Miss Mary Dechner. In 1868, Mr. Knautz purchased a stock of harnesses, in which he has since dealt, in connection with his former bus- iness. Mr. and Mrs. Knautz have had four chil- dren, three of whom are living.

ALEXANDER MOLAREN, one of the oldest settlers now living in the village, is a native of Monroe county, New York, born on the 28th of June, 1814. In 1833, he came west, settling where the city of Chicago now is located, and for a number of years was engaged in driving stage from the latter place to Detroit, Michigan. In 1855, he came to this township, which has since been his home, and for a time was engaged in carrying the mail from here to Elliota. Mr. McLaren is a veterinary surgeon, to which profession he has given some attention since coming here; has also been Justice of the Peace most of the time.

F. P. MOORE was born in Columbus, Ohio, on the 16th of July, 1859. When he was eight years old his parents moved to Kansas, where his father was extensively engaged in stock-raising. F. P. assisted him and attended the schools at Olathe until 1877, when he came to Brownsville. Until 1880, he divided his time between this place and his former home, then entered a drug store in this town. He was married to Miss Maud L. Smith, daughter of John H. Smith, one of the early set- tlers. They have been blessed with two children. Mr. Moore opened his present drug store in 1881.

JAMES MOCAN, deceased, one of the pioneers of this place, was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the 25th of May, 1818. He moved with his parents to Ohio, and thence to Indiana, where he married Miss Josephine Pittulo on the 21st of July, 1839. She was born in Pope county, Illi- nois, in 1824. They came to Houston county in May, 1853, and settled in Brownsville, where Mr. McCan pre-empted land. He was a man of fine ability and took a leading part in the early history of the county; was the first Register of Deeds, first Notary Public, and taught the first school in the county. He died in Caledonia on the 23d of May, 1860. His family have since returned to

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this township, where his wife and one son reside on the old homestead. The children are Charles E., John R., both living in the place; Frank A., in California; Margaret, the wife of Mr. Palmer, re- siding in Brownsville; Josephine, a teacher in the high school of Caledonia; Alice, teacher in the public schools here; Jessie, now Mrs. Allbaugh, residing in this village, and William F., living with his mother.

WILLIAM POWERS was born in Waterford county, Ireland, on the 4th of November, 1835. He was reared to mercantile pursuits, and when fourteen years old came with his parents to Amer- ica, locating in Pennsylvania, where he attended school. In 1854, the family moved to Dubuque, Iowa, and the same year Mr. Powers, Sr., came to this place, located a farm and returned to Iowa for his family, but while in Dubuque sickened and died. The family soon after came to the farm, and two years later moved to the village. Subse- quently they returned to Dubuque and remained three years. In 1860, they came again to this place, and the following year William opened a grocery store, commencing with a small capital which he has since greatly increased, and now has a large trade. He also owns a fine farm near the village.

JOHN H. RIPPE is a native of Germany, born on the 15th of December, 1828, at the village of Mehringen, in the county of Hoya, Hanover. In 1847, he came to America, located in New York city, and for several years was employed in a grocery store. In the spring of 1852, he opened a grocery store of his own and conducted the same for six years. In 1854 he was united in marriage with Miss A. Margaret Horstmann. They came to Brownsville in the spring of 1858, and Mr. Rippe formed a copartnership with his brother Henry in the general merchandise business. This firm dissolved partnership on the 1st of May, 1860, soon after which the subject of this sketch opened his present store, in connection with which he has also dealt considerably in grain. Seven children have been born to them, five of whom are living.

MATHIAS S. ROSTER was born in Luxemburg, Germany, on the 15th of November, 1843. At the age of fourteen years he came to America with his parents, and directly to this place where they located. His father soon after purchased a farm in Crooked Creek upon which Mathias lived until enlisting in the army in August, 1862. He

served three years and three months in Company K, of the Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry; first on the frontier against the Indians, and then was sent south. After his return, the 5th of March, 1867, he was united in marriage with Miss Anna C. Schaller. They have had six children, five of whom are living. In 1868, Mr. Roster came to Brownsville, and for a number of years kept the Selfridge Hotel, then the American House, and soon after took a contract for carrying the mail from this place to Caledonia. For a number of years he has been owner and proprietor of the Roster House.

J. C. SOHALLER is a native of Germany, born on the 30th of June, 1838. In 1846, he came to America with his parents who located in Hancock county, Ohio. They moved to Wheeling, Vir- ginia in 1848, where Mr. Schaller, Sr., operated a steam flour-mill for about five years, then returned to Ohio and continued in the milling business. In the spring of 1856, they came to Houston county, and the subject of our sketch, in company with his father, erected a saw-mill, and afterwards a flouring-mill in the town of Crooked creek. They operated the same until coming here in 1866, when they sold and built the present flouring-mill, which has since been carried on by J. C. and his brother J. P. Schaller, Our subject was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Fetzner in 1863. The union has been blessed with seven children, six of whom are living, one girl and five boys.

LEONARD SCHWARZ was born in Bavaria, Ger- many, on the 31st of January, 1830. His father died the day Leonard was born, and his mother, when he was thirteen years old. Leonard worked some at the wagon-maker's trade, then in an oil manufactory, and subsequently at the butcher trade. He was afterward engaged in driving stage until coming to America in 1852. After residing in Cincinnati for a time, Mr. Schwarz moved to a farm in Iowa, and in 1857 came to Brownsville. Miss Mary Miller became his wife on the 9th of September, 1858. Since 1866, Mr. Schwarz has been engaged in the butcher business in this vil- lage, His wife bore him ten children, six of whom are living. She died on the 10th of March, 1877.

WILLIAM THOMAN is a native of Germany, born in Wurtemberg, on the 13th of December, 1844. When a child he came with his parents to Ameri- ca, and when thirteen years old commenced learn-

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ing the tinner's trade, in Milwaukee. In 1860, he moved to La Crosse, and in 1862 enlisted in the Fourteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Com- pany D, participating in the battle of Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Mobile, and Nashville. He has been a resident of this place since 1866; devoted the first two years to his trade, was then engaged in mercantile pursuits, and later in the hotel busi- ness. In 1876 he opened a saloon and billiard- hall, to which he has since added a stock of gro- ceries.

REV. EUGENE WALTER is a native of Germany, born in Halberstadt, Prussia, on the 27th of May, 1847. He received his education from a private tutor, and at the same time attended what in his native place is called a "Latin School," and after- ward graduated from the university at Halle. He was ordained a Lutheran minister and served for a short time as Chaplain in the Franco-German war; then assisted in a parish at Thale. In 1873, he came to America, and for five years had charge of a church in Manchester, Wisconsin; then two years in Beaver Dam, and in 1880 came to this place, since which time he has conducted services in the Lutheran church.

JOHN WALSH Was born in Kilavaw, Kilkenny county, Ireland, on the 12th of July, 1857. He came to America in May, 1875, and landed in New

York, where he remained three years engaged a portion of the time in a factory. In 1878, he came to this place and has since resided with his uncle, Edward Carroll. On the 1st of March, 1881, Miss Jennie Galvin, daughter of Mr. M. Galvin, became his wife, She was born in Brownsville, on the 12th of July, 1862. Mr. Walsh is an energetic young man, and is one of Brownsville's most industrious farmers.

MARK ZUBER dates his birth the 17th of April, 1825, in the province of Alsace, Germany. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and served six years in the French Revolution of 1848. He came to America in 1854, and was married in November of the same year to Miss Theresa Shoef- ner. They resided two years at St. Louis, Mis- souri, thence to Dubuque, Iowa, and on the 1st of August, 1858, settled in this place on a farm in section three, upon which Mr. Zuber now lives, Mrs. Zuber died on the 3d of August, 1868, leav- ing a family of five children; Edward, Antoine, Alnis, Mary, and Anne. The maiden name of his present wife was Lena Goetz. The fruits of this union are seven children; Martin, William, Lizzie, Henry, Margaret, Peter, and John. All the chil- dren are living at home. Mr. Zuber has held dif- ferent offices in his district and is respected by all who know him.

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CALEDONIA.

CHAPTER LII.

DESCRIPTIVE-EARLY SETTLEMENT - INCIDENTS-

VILLAGE HISTORY-CHURCHES-SCHOOLS-MAN- UFACTURING-BUSINESS DIRECTORY.

This is the shire town of Houston county, and it has a village of the same name, originally laid out on section thirteen, which is of course on the eastern boundary of the township. As it would be impossible to divorce them, the town and village will be treated together in the following sketch, with perhaps a slight variation.

The village is but a few miles from the geo- graphical center of the county, and is near the head of Crooked Creek valley. It is a dozen miles or so from the Mississippi, and lays high and dry on a rolling prairie, 550 feet above the river. The village is regularly laid out, with the direction of the streets corresponding with the cardinal points of the compass.

The blocks vary in size, but are usually nearly square, are without alleys in either direction, and contain from eight to ten lots.

The principal business street is Main Street, an east and west thoroughfare, although two of the cross streets, Marshall and Kingston, are devoted largely to business purposes, as will be seen in the account of the business firms in town. North of Main is Lincoln, Grant, Caledonia, and High Streets. South of Main, is Grove, Washington, and Court Streets. For cross streets, the town line is east of the center of the village,and on that is the county road, beyond which the streets are named First, Second, etc. West of the public road the streets are East, Badger, Pine, Marshall, Kingston, Decora, Ramsey, and Hokah. The streets are of the usual width, many of them having plank sidewalks. Some of the crossings are plank and some are of stone.

Court House square is two blocks south of Main Street. On the northeast part of the block is the jail, a most creditable looking building, which is elsewhere described; south of this is the Court House, a purposeless looking structure, which the county has outgrown, and which, in due time, will be replaced by a building for county purposes in accordance with present and future requirements.

The other buildings for public purposes, churches and schools, are quite up to the average in villages no older than this. The building ma- terial is commonly of wood, although there are several of stone and a few of brick. The dwellings are good comfortable structures, and there are quite a number of fine residences, with ornamental grounds, some af which will, in another place, re- ceive special mention.

There are many shade trees, which will, as they become mature with age, give the village a more picturesque appearance.

As to healthfulness, there can be no more salu- brious climate, or physical surroundings more con- ducive to health and longevity, than is presented in Caledonia, where there are no prevailing dis- eases, and where the chronic remark of one doctor to another is that "it is distressingly healthy."

Water here, if sought for in the earth, has to be procured at uncertain, and sometimes great depths; and although the prevailing opinion may not co- incide with the statement, it is nevertheless be- lieved to be true, that cistern water, if properly fil- tered, taken as it falls from the clouds, before it has passed through the obnoxious decomposing vege- table elements on the surface of the earth, is much preferable to water which has taken up organic or mineral substances in its passage through the ground. The difficulty of procuring water by means of wells, has compelled the people, against

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their will, to use cistern water, which is in every way preferable for domestic and stock purposes.

Caledonia is a place of considerable trade which is supplied by the residents in the vicinity, as well as its own citizens. When the railroad, connect- ing it with the commercial world, went west, in obedience to the great movement started by the Pilgrim Fathers, and which was never more vigor- ous than to-day, considerable trade stopping here per force, went on east, inflicting some disappoint- ment, which, however, soon adjusted itself to the new circumstances in obdience to an instinct which is nowhere so striking as in America, where sur- prises, from their frequency, have almost ceased to be surprises at all.

It not unfrequently happens that the build- ing of a particular railroad, looked upon with such fond anticipations, proves to be a temporary set- back to prevailing prosperity, which time can only compensate for by new arrangements, and new de- velopments. It was so in California; the comple- tion of the Union Pacific railroad, by upsetting valnes, gave the Pacific coast a most profound commercial shock, that it took years to recover from.

The village, from its position in the center of a fine farming community, will enjoy a certain amount of trade, if its dealers are prepared to ac- commodate it.

Looking in another direction, the future pros- perity depends largely upon the enterprise of its leading citizens. If competent attention is paid to manufacturing articles required within its com- mercial influence, its certain growth and prosper- ity is assured. A neglect in this direction will leave the place a slow growing County Seat, du- plicating the experience of hundreds of others. In- deed the healthy condition of Caledonia to-day is more largely indebted to the limited manufactur- ing now carried on here, than most residents would be willing to admit.

The population of Caledonia, by the United States census of 1880, was: village, 894; township and village, 1,890; which has not very materially increased since that time.

In 1870, the population by the national census was: native, 1,013; foreign, 615; total, 1,628.

In 1860, the whole number in the village and town was 701. These last figures represent what had been done in the eight years since the first &. ttlement of the place.

As an early settlement it is antedated by Browns- ville, which was at first the county seat, but on account of its location, and it being al- ready a very thriving village, it was soon located here to remain, although there have been several more or less vigorous efforts made to have the county seat removed to one of the towns on the line of the Southern Minnesota railroad.

The narrow gauge railroad comes into town from the east, and, for a distance of two blocks, runs on Grant Street, the second north of Main; it has a good depot and an elevator, and as the road leaves the village, going west, it is deflected to- ward the south, to ultimately reach Spring Grove, which is on the lower tier of towns, to the west.

Caledonia has furnished several State officers, and several unsuccessful candidates for State posi- tions, among them one for that of governor. The people of the village are of a good quality, attend- ing to their own affairs. As to society, it has sev- eral "sets" and the usual number of grades, where the regular conventionalities are observed.

THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT.

An absorbing interest is always manifested in regard to the very first pioneer who ventured into any locality to establish a home, and it would seem that while the parties who were contemporary with the first settler are still living, it would not be difficult to promptly arrive at the facts, but for various reasons, which it may not be desirable to state, there is much more uncertainty in this respect than would be supposed by those who have not undertaken to gather this kind of information. It is quite clear, however, that the first person to locate with his family within the limits Caledonia township, was Ralph L. Young, who was said to have been a Mormon elder with Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, Illinois. He had a wife and three chil- dren, two sons and a daughter. He put up a bark hut in the southern part of the town in 1851. In May, 1852, Anthony Huyck and Peter L. Swartout, a pair of jolly batchelors, made their claim as men- tioned elsewhere. A few others had also made their way hither.

The real founder of Caledonia was Samuel Mc- Phail, who came from Alton, Illinois, in Decem- ber, 1851, and located in Wild Cat valley, as it was called, about two miles from Brownsville. In March, 1853, he went to where Caledonia now stands and selected a claim, and in June, began active improvements building a little store and log

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dwelling. This was on Kingston Street, near the place now occupied by the New York House.

Mr. O. W. Streeter had a store in another place, and also had an interest in this one started by Mc- Phail. The business was afterward in the hands of A. D. Sprague, and finally came into the pos- session of Sprague Brothers & Co., who now man- age it in a revised and enlarged form. Mr. Wm. F. Dunbar had been here in December, 1852, on a prospecting tour, and being pleased with the ap- pearance of the land, had returned to Massachu- setts, and induced about forty of his friends to seek new homes in Southern Minnesota. Mr. Dunbar returned in August, 1853. The first in- stallment of this party arrived on a steamer, at Brownsville, in the night, and having been com- mended to a certain hotel, they made their way to it, to find a log hut, with not standing room enough inside for the party, to say nothing about sleeping room; but they all made the best of the situation, and the next day followed the trail to their future home, Caledonia. The names of a number of this party are here given: Edwin H. Stewart and family, John Dunbar and family, Henry Parmelee, and Michael Mead. Samuel Armstrong came the year before, and Joseph Pen- dleton, who was from South Hadley Falls where most of the party were also from, was already here; he afterward moved to Tennessee.

Mr. Stewart located on the farm he still owns, the neighbors all turned out and helped to lay up a log house, and it was finished on Sunday night, so that they moved in at once. It was 14x24 feet, and at one time they had fifteen in the house for three months, and Mrs. Stewart says there was too much chink ventilation to make that crowding un- healthy.

The greatest trouble at first was the want of water. When the Stewarts went to housekeeping, they had but a two-gallon jug full. McPhail had loaned them the jug, and gave them the water. On the 25th of October, that year, it began to snow. Mrs. Stewart was alone, with no one to send for water; she was expecting friends, and had but a pint of water in the house. She spread out sheets and table cloths and caught snow to melt, and so bridged over that immediate difficulty.

Other settlers that came here about this time were: J. W. Finn, who located southeast of Swartout; Jacob Webster, wife and two children, was another family, now well known in town;

Dan. Herring and family; Hiram Abbey and fam- ily, his wife being the daughter of Mr. Armstrong; James Wing, who married Miss Gillett after coming here; Henry Parmelee, who married an- other of Mr. Armstrong's daughters, Margaret, which was one of the earliest weddings in town; Joseph Pendleton, who was also married here to Miss Andrews; John Burns came a bachelor, as many others did, not being certain whether it would be safe to bring a woman here at that time; and Tom. Burns, who lived here until a few years ago, when he went to Dakota and there died; his wife died at an early day.

THE FIRST DEATH .- Mrs. Sarah M. Pomeroy died on the 24th of May, 1854, and it is likely that her babe was one of the first births in town. Mr. Pomeroy returned to the East after his wife's death. Mrs. Robinson, the daughter of Mr. Webster, died after living here awhile.

Mrs. McPhail had a daughter, who was named in honor of the State, which may have been the first child born here; it did not long survive. John J. Dunbar also had a son born, who died in May, 1854.

Late in the fall of 1853, there was a social gath- ering of the entire community at a candy pull. The whole settlement was there, and they num- bered twenty-eight souls.

Mr. Henry Burnet and Hugh Brown came late in 1853, but returned, and finally went to Colo- rado.

During that first winter there were several parties and dances at Mr. James Hiner's, who had arrived and started a hotel where the De Soto House now is. Huyck and Swartout were lo- cated where the Burns place now is.

The initial log cabin laid up in Caledonia is still standing in a lot some distance north of the Methodist church.

Mr. McPhail had the village platted in the the spring of 1854, Mr. Eugene Marshall, the gentlemanly cashier of the Bank, making the sur- vey, and doing the other work.

The first store actually filled with general mer- chandise was that of A. D. Sprague.

Reuben Rollins taught the first school in the winter of 1854.

The first remembered preaching was by an old Baptist minister, in an unfinished cabin belonging to Mr. James J. Belden.

At that time, deer, bear, and elk, were plentiful,

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and there was quite a lively trade kept up with the Winnebago Indians, who had not then left this part of Minnesota. The most noted of the chiefs were Porter, Lightfoot, and his son, Little Priest. But the early settlers here had little or no trouble with the Indians.

The nearest grist-mill was on Canoe Creek, in Iowa, and after reaching there it sometimes cost $10 for 100 pounds of flour. To show the disad- vantages under which these people labored, it is related that Mr. McPhail, to get some work done for a plow, went to Prairie du Chein, paid $5.00 steamboat fare, and $2.00 hotel bills, for sixty cents worth of blacksmith work. But, notwith- standing such little drawbacks, the people were happy. Hope was then certainly springing eternal in the breasts of those hardy pioneers, very many of whom to-day, judging from their financial con- dition, must have exceeded their youthful expec- tations, unless they were unusually extravagant in this direction. Mr. McPhail is now a resident of Alta Vista, Minnesota, but he remembers the scenes of his early triumphs, and his early friends, as an exile remembers his early home and the environments of his early childhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Metcalf, the latter being Sarah M., the daughter of Edwin H. Stewart, came in the spring of 1854.

L. W. Paddock arrived in 1853, from Illinois. His location was west of the town on section four- teen. Nelson Haight located southwest of the town, and had quite a family. Enoch C. Young, and his brother Alphonzo, sons of Ralph L. Young, came here to spy out out the land, and afterwards the family came as above stated. After a time, as the country was settled up west of Houston county, the road through Caledonia became a great thoroughfare, and hundreds of teams were pass- ing through every day, to and from the river. Wheat was often hauled from Albert Lea to Winona, but the expense would sometimes nearly eat up the whole price obtained for the grain. As an instance; a farmer contracted to have a load of grain teamed to Winona for forty cents a bushel, and on its ar- rival there it sold for forty-five cents a bushel, so the farmer obtained the munificent sum of five cents a bushel for his wheat; which realizes in a striking way the difference between the cost of transportation by animal and steam power, for now a bushel of grain can be carried around the world and still have a moiety of its value left.

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History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 62

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

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