History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 83

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

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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).

As an instance of the work and hardship requir- ed to keep soul and body together, it is said, Knud Olson Bergo took what he could comfortably car- ry on his back in a sack and started for the mill below Dorchester, and it was more than a week before he succeeded in getting home. The deep snows and cold weather prevented many from go- ing to mill at all. The little mill spoken of above would at such times be immovably frozen up, and so they had to grind their corn in a coffee mill or pound it up in a mortar.

The first birth was a daughter of Tolet Amund- son Bergh, Mary J., who was born October 29, 1852. She died on the 29th of November of the same year. The burial was on the farm about three miles west of the village.

Probably the oldest living, child born in Spring Grove is John P. Lommen, who was born on the 12th of December, 1852. He is now a merchant in Caledonia, and is a son of Peter Johnson Lom- men, a prominent citizen of Spring Grove.

The first marriage was, as near as can be re- membered, that of Hans Nielson Myhra and Miss Mary B. Anderson, in February, 1854. Mr.

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HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY.

Myrha is dead, but his widow is still living in Caledonia.

During the years 1854-55, quite a number of families were added to the already thriving col- ony, and the few years immediately succeeding witnessed still further developments. Farms were opened in all parts of the town, and the early com- ers were beginning to reap some of the rewards for their self-sacrificing toil. Larger buildings were erected, schools and churches established, and a general air of thrift and enterprise began to be visible, where so recently all was wild and un- inhabited, except by the wild beasts of the forest and prairie.

At an early day the farmers turned their atten- tion to the cultivation of wheat, and at first the yield was beyond their expectations, being sometimes from twenty to thirty bushels to the acre, but various untoward circumstances, atmos- pheric and other causes, produced frequent failures, the crop getting down sometimes to ten bushels or less per acre. From the crude and experimen- tal efforts of earlier years, has been developed more systematic methods of farming, and the beneficial effects are already quite apparent. Corn and its * remunerative product, pork, is largely raised, and although there is exceptionally some mortality among the hogs, the crop is more certain as a standard production, and at fair prices, now that there is direct railroad communication with Chicago and Milwaukee, the great pork packing centers, than any other that has been attempted, and the only thing that may supercede it in the near fu- ture is the butter and cheese business, to which the town is well adapted, as there seems to be some inclination in that direction.

For many years the citizens of this town labored under the disadvantage of being so far removed from market as to render farming or other indus- tries less profitable than in more favored localities, and when the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque, and Minnesota Railroad Company made the prelimi- nary survey, and submitted a proposition to build a narrow gauge line if the requisite encourage- ment was extended, the town voted a bonus of twelve thousand dollars, payable within twenty years, the bonds to bear interest at the rate of seven per cent., the towa to elect when, within the specified time, the payment should be made. Under the conditions of the contract between the company and the town, two stations were estab-

lished; one at New House, already mentioned, and one at the village of Spring Grove, of which men- tion is reserved for another chapter. By referring to the annual report, the immense benefit arising from this enterprise will readily be percieved. Farmers are no longer subject to the tedious jour- ney before necessary, in marketing their yearly increasing produce, and merchants are no less for- tunate in the present ample facilities for transpor- tation.

The railroad, a sketch of which is given in the general history of the county, passes through the township from the northeast corner, following the ridge already described, and crossing the west boundary north of the southwest corner.

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.

The town of Spring Grove was organized the same year that the State was admitted into the Union, 1858, but unfortunately the records have not been preserved.

The following letter from one of the early set- tlers in relation to the town organization will be read with interest:

DECORAH, IOWA, December 27th, 1881. DEAR SIR: At the first election in Spring Grove, after the State was admitted, Mr. W. T. Hinkley, Mr. B. S. Andrews, and myself were each candidates for Justice of the Peace and Andrews and I were elected. I believe C. H. Brown and also W. T. Hinkley ran for the Chairmanship of the Board of Supervisors, and that Brown .was chosen for both of the positions, Chairman and Superintendent, but I am not quite sure. I know that Hinkley was Town Clerk, and he must have been elected at this first election.

I think the other supervisors were John Nelson and George Timanson, but am not positive. I be- lieve Embrick Knudson was Town Treasurer. It is likely that C. H. Brown, of Riceford, would re- member about it.

On further reflection, I am sure that Brown was elected Chairman of the Board of Supervisora, and Hinkley, Town Clerk. For at any rate they were acting in that capacity at the time of the next town meeting. I am pretty sure the other super- visors were Nelson and Timanson. Francis Aiken was one Constable, but I don't remember the other.

My first vote was cast at Spring Grove, in the spring of 1855, on the question of removing the

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County Seat. Samuel McPhail was there, and in his happiest mood. He bought about a half bushel of eggs and boiled them, and we all had a free lunch and lots of fun.

James Smith, of Caledonia, was among the first settlers in Spring Grove, which at first went by the name of "Norwegian Ridge."

Yours truly, S. AIKEN.

There is, of course, no reason to doubt the cor- rectness of this statement.

At the early precinct and town meetings, what may be characterized as "high old times" were had. The place could not then have been called a tem- perance town, and at all the public meetings a good time was always expected and usually ob- tained, unless the demijohns ran dry, and such a contingency was provided against with tender care. The usual results of such inspiration natu- rally followed, and free fights in the true Donny- brook Fair variety, were not unfrequent. At the "county seat" election, which took place in Smith's Grove, just east of the present village, the whole town came out, and as Cale lonia was the ambi- tious burgh that was struggling for the honor, Samuel McPhail, the original proprietor of the village plat, was on hand at this the most thickly settled place hereabouts, and as mentioned by Mr. Aiken, he furnished eggs which were boiled in kettles on the ground, and he also had butter to eat on them, which was more or less a novelty at even the regular meals at that time. If there was any doubt as to which way the question would be decided, the butter and eggs settled it. It was the most exciting election ever held in town. The owners of real estate in Brownsville, Caledonia, and Houston, were frantically anxious; each could see visions of wealth ready to be poured into his lap, and all depending upon the decision of the hour. The question "To be," or "Not to be," was the vital one with them, whether they were to be remanded to an equal struggle with the world, or were to be reinforced by the voice of the county transforming their farms into city lots.

The feelings and movements of McPhail as he joyfully flew to carry the glad news to the Cale- donians, were in striking contrast with the depres- sing sensations experienced by the pilgrims from the other contesting points, as they sadly and si- lently climbed the intervening bluffs, to carry the disappointing tidings to their expectant friends at home. The citizens who participated in that con-

test remember it as the people further east remem- ber the log cabin campaign of 1840.

The present town officers are: Supervisors, A. Lamb, Chairman, Embrick Hanson, and A. M. Hallan; Clerk, Nels O. Ongard; Assessor, L. T. Johnson; Treasurer, Charles Hoegh, and Justices of the Peace, A. Halverson and V. T. Beeby. The town meetings are now held in the Town Hall, which was the old school house, bought by the town when the new one was built in 1872.

SCHOOL8.

DISTRICT No. 55 .- A Norwegian school was commenced in a very primitive way at an early period of the history of the colony. At first the school was peripatetic, being kept a single week in one house, and the next in another, the school actually boarding around instead of the teacher, as sometimes happened in those primitive times. Cornelius Narveson was the teacher who faith- fully followed the scholars in their pilgrimage in quest of the keys of knowledge. Since its organiz- ation the boundary of the district has been modi- fied to some extent. After the outline was defined the local habitation secured was in the house of Ole Amundson Berg on section sixteen, and after- ward room was rented from John Myhro on sec- tion eight. The school was held in various places, until a small frame building was constructed on section eight; this must have been about 1867, al though there is a wide difference in the recollec- tion of the citizens as to the exact time. After- wards the original structure was doubled in size, and it is now a respectable appearing school house.

DISTRICT NO. 56 .- The first school was held in an old log house of Abner Aiken, on section thirty, which had been his residence; the school contin- ued there for some time, but was not very popular. In 1866, the present comfortable house was put up, on the west line of section twenty-nine, at a cost of about $800.00. There are now from fifty to seventy-five pupils on the roll. The school is kept up from six to eight months each year.

DISTRICT No. 57 .- This was organized in the spring of 1857, and the first officers were, Andrew Hanson, Clerk; Hans. P. Rosendahl, Treasurer; and Teman Gilbertson, Director. The first funds were raised by subscription, and Ole Ulen and Andrew P. Kroshus cut and had sawed the timber for the erection of the first school house, which was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1857.

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This building was 14x18 feet, and was constructed by Embrick Olson and Gilbert N. Myrha.

Miss Mahala E. Rowe taught the first school in the house in the summer of 1858, and as a prom- inent connecting link between the past and the present, it should be stated that a son of the first teacher, Mr. Addison, taught the last school in the house, in the winter of 1880; and then the old building went the way of all the world. The present structure was put together a half mile east of the old one near the southeast corner of section twenty-six.

DISTRICT No. 76. On the 24th of April, 1869, a regular meeting was held for the purpose of or- ganizing a school district from territory taken from No. 57. The meeting was at the house of John Erickson, and the following year the house now there, was erected at a cost of about $700.00, and in 1870, the excercises of the school began, Miss Ella M. Dibble wielding the ferule as an em- blem of her authority.

DISTRICT NO. 88 .-- This district was dissected out of No. 57, which seems to have been the moth- er of districts, in 1878. The first school was held at the residence of Knud Gilbertson on section twenty-three, in the winter or late fall of 1878. In the summer of 1879, the very pretty schoolhouse now used was erected on section twenty-four, on the farm of Knud Gilbertson.

VILLAGE OF SPRING GROVE.

The first steps leading to the founding and subsequent development of this thriving village have already been mentioned, as have also the names of the principal actors.

It required no prophetic vision to foresee the ul- timate concentration of capital and energy which has placed this naturally favored spot among the brightest and most prosperous of inland towns, and given to the surrounding country a trading point excelled by none in southern Minnesota. When the settlement of the region west of this led to the founding of the village of Preston, in Fill- more county, this became a half-way station be- tween that place and Brownsville, where the Land Office was then located. Mr. Smith's house then became a popular stopping place for travelers, and for some time was the only one at this point.

EARLY BEGINNINGS.

Mr. Smith's house and store, which was not large, was situated on the old Brownsville road, on

the eastern part of section eleven, just east of the present village. In 1855, or thereabouts, Mr. Smith sold his stock of goods to Mr. Wm. Hinkley, who commenced the erection of a store about a half mile west of Smith's place, and soon moved in a stock of goods. The land he bought of Embrick Knudson.

The old building still remains and is used by Teman Gilbertson as a store room. In addition to groceries and general merchandise, Mr. Hinkley was a dealer in wines and liquors, which in those primitive days meant "whiskey straight." His supply in this line was kept in a little addition to the store, in which he slept, and the weary traveler passing the store any time in the night would gently tap on the window, pass in his bottle or jug with the "equivalent," and Hinkley would fill it without getting out of bed, and hand it back to the grateful customer. After a while Mr. Hinkley removed to Riceford.

About this time Mr. William Fleming bought forty acres of land of Embrick Benson, paying him $100 for it, which was one hundred per cent. above the government price. This particular forty is the land on which most of the village now stand ..

Mr. Fleming was a noted character in his way, keenly appreciating practical jokes and stories. He erected a large log building, his neighbors all turning out to assist, and making the occasion a holiday, and this house became a famous one in its day. It was the half-way house on the road to Brownsville, and a general stopping place where dances and parties were gathered. The house was always full, and it required considerable skill to stow away the extra guests always arriving. Men used to be required to sleep across the foot of the bed where there were two or three pointing in the other direction. At one time there were several gentlemen from St. Paul, and to make a bed wide enough to hold them, an annex to a bed was made up of a row of chairs in front, and as they proved to be too low, a lot of pumpkins were placed on them and they were thus brought up to the grade. After these men left they called it the "Pumpkin Tavern," and so Fleming took the hint, and he used to take a pumpkin and making a jack-o-lan- tern of it, place a candle inside and put it on a pole in front of his house as a sign, and of course no. one could resist the temptation in those days to call in and take a drink. For many years it was

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known far and near as the "Pumpkin Tavern," and Mr. Fleming conducted it until his death long years ago, and it is said that his burial was the first adult American in town.

After some time Mr. Smith had his farm platted and laid out as a village site, but it was never so occupied and was finally sold to Mr. Robert Mc- Cormick, who kept a public house.

The next notable move here was the erec- tion of a building for a saloon by Nick and Jesse Demering, of Caledonia, near the Fleming house, but it was soon abandoned as a saloon, and in 1857, Mr. Badger, of Madison, Wisconsin, put in a large and choice stock of general merchandise. This building was on the present site of Mons. Fladager's old store. The business went on for a few months only, when the building was myste- riously burned, which was a serious loss, as the stock of goods was remarkably extensive for so new a country.

Soon after this a firm by the name of Tartt & Smith came from Dorchester, Iowa, brought a stock of goods, and displayed them in a building that is still standing in the east part of the section. After a few years they folded their tents, and silently returned from whence they came. The his- toric forty already alluded to, had passed into the hands of Peter Halverson, now residing in the town of Wilmington, who sold it to Mons Fladager in 1860, in the month of February, when he came here and identified himself with the inter- ests of the village and town. At first he occupied the old log building formerly used as a tavern by Fleming. In 1864, he erected a neat frame build- ing on the site of the Badger place and occupied this until November, 1881, when,having completed a fine brick building, he removed his goods thereto. Mr. Fladager is one of the leading merchants in the village and the oldest trader; in fact the only families within the present village limits when he came, were those of Mr. Hinkley and Robert Mc- Cormick.

The location of the village is unexceptionally favorable, occupying level or gently sloping ground on the table before mentioned, supplied with an abundance of lime rock and brick clay for building purposes, while the rich agricultural country surrounding renders it one of the best points for trade in this portion of the State. A part of the original grove still remains on the north, which, besides adding to the natural beauty

of the place, shields it from the cold northern blasts of winter.

RELIGIOUS.

The first religious service in town must have been as early as the fall of 1852 or '53, for the Norwegians who located here were a church-going and pious people, and their first efforts, after se- curing a place for a home, was to secure religious instruction, and at the time mentioned, a meeting, unquestionably the first in town, was held at the house of Mr. Even Evenson Haime, on section nine. The Rev. N. Brandt was the officiating clergyman. He came from Wisconsin, and has since been a professor in an Iowa college. Per- haps it was the next year when a clergyman from Washington Prairie, the Rev. V. Koren, held meetings at the house of G. Timanson, on section fifteen. It must have been in the spring of 1854, wben a Sunday school was organized at the house of James Smith, whose wife was the inspiration of the whole movement, and took a leading part in the school, which was sometimes held at the house of O. Christianson Steneroder, on section twelve. Mr. Ralph L. Young, who had been among the Mormons, sometimes preached here. About that time a number of books were bought and quite a library was started, and many of the Norwegians eagerly took out books in the vain hope of soon being able to read English, but the interest in the library soon waned, and it was abandoned.

THE NORWEGIAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH .- The result of the various meetings held during the first years of the colony, and the anxiety of the people resulted in the organization of this church in 1856, the meeting for that pur- pose being held in the house of George Timan- son. It was called "The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Norwegian Ridge." The extent of this parish was large, and included from beyond the Root River to beyond the Little Iowa.

After the congregation had been regularly or- ganized, a minister was sent for in the old country, and a memorandum in Rev. F. C. Clauson's own handwriting states that he "entered upon his voy- age for America on the 22d of August, 1857, to ac- cept the position of minister of the gospel in the congregations of Norwegian Ridge, in Minnesota, and Big Canoe, Iowa."

Mr. Clauson came directly here, arriving in the fall of that year, became the first resident pastor,

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and at once set himself and the whole congrega- tion at work to build up the cause in this new world.

Mr. Clauson was born on Washington's birth day, 1810, and died on the 23d of October, 1870. Bo that his pastorate extended over a period of thirteen years. He was forty-seven years of age at the time of his entrance upon the work here, to which he devoted, with a rare skill and an untiring 'energy, the rest of his life. His loss was keenly felt, as he had secured the love, confidence, and esteem of the whole community. After his death, his family, a wife, one son, and a daughter, re- moved to Iowa and made a visit to Norway, but the daughter died on their way back to America.

The year after the organization of the church, a log house was built, 18x26 feet, on a fifty acre lot furnished by Mr. G. Timanson, who turned it over to the Society at the original government price, and the next year, 1857, when Mr. Clauson came, it was occupied as a parsonage, while the meetings were held in the old schoolhouse that is now the Town Hall.

In 1860, the foundation for a church was laid, Mr. Hans Nielson Myhra, one of the pioneers of the town, took a very active part in the construc- tion of this edifice, and took the lead in locating and building it, doing most of the work and fur- nishing nearly all of the material, afterwards get- ting his pay in installments as the congregation was able to discharge the debt. Mr. Nielson Myhra was a native of Norway, having first seen the light on the 12th of September, 1824, and coming to this town at an early day, took an ac- tive part in all public enterprises. His death was on the 9th of February, 1867, and his remains rest in the cemetery near the new church. In 1862, the house was so far finished that meetings were held in it up to 1868, when it was finally comple- ted. The building was of solid stone walls, 35x65 feet, and served until 1877, when the present church was completed, and dedicated to the ser- vice of Almighty God on the 11th of July, 1877.

This beautiful temple, the pride of the village and surrounding country, is of brick manufactured within a few rods of its location, and rests upon a heavy stone foundation, also taken from the quar- ries near by. It is of gothic design, one hundred feet two inches, by forty-six feet eight inches, with wings projecting ten feet on either side, the whole surmounted by a beautiful spire with its top 145

feet above the pavement. The belfry contains a bell weighing 707 pounds, which, although not large for such a church, is remarkably sweet toned, and from its altitude can be heard a great distance. This bell was procured for the old church in 1868. The church is remarkably well finished, and with its stained glass windows, re- minds one of the church edifices so common in Europe.

Beneath the church proper is a spacious base- ment, which has been prepared for a high school, and so used for several terms. It is also used one day in each week for religious instruction for the children, preparatory to confirmation, and it also serves for the business meetings of the con- gregation. The church has a comfortable seating capacity of 950 persons. When the new church was completed the old one was demolished, and the stone sold to various parties for building pur- poses.

Adjoining the church on the north is a ceme- tery, in which are seen scores of monuments, shafts and slabs of polished marble, standing as silent sentinels over this lifeless city, ever indica- ting by their voiceless story the mortality of human life and the immortality of the soul, as in- dicated by the remembrance of those who remain for those who have gone on before.

During the year immediately following the death of the lamented Mr. Clauson, Rev. H. A. Stubb, Rev. T. Larson, and others held occasional services. This Rev. Mr. Larson was a very pious and learned man, and was greatly beloved. He died on the 27th of October, 1878, and his mortal remains lay beside those of Mr. Clauson in the churchyard. The Rev. Styrk S. Reque then came and took charge of the congregation as its pastor. Mr. Reque has done an immense amount of work since he has been here. Holding meetings at more or less regular intervals at various points in the vicinity. Since the starting of this, the mother church, many other Lutheran congrega- tions have been formed. Those in this county are mentioned in the history of the towns where they are located.

Mr. Reque is assisted in his ministerial labors by Rev. E. P. Jensen, who resides about five miles from the village, and has separate charge of a con- gregation in Newburg, Fillmore county. The church at Spring Grove numbers six hundred communicants, making, with the other societies

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under charge of the resident pastor, one thousand one hundred and seventy-five, as shown by the last annual report.

This church is one of the institutions of Spring Grove, and it has, and still exerts a powerful in- fluence throughout the community. It has been particularly fortunate in its pastoral relations, and, judging by the past, its future is indeed most promising.

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History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 83

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

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