History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 14

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343

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The first general election was held at the designated places, Oct. 11, 1853. H. M. Rice was elected territorial delegate to Congress, William Freeborn, of Red Wing, was elected to the State Council, and O. M. Lord, of Minnesota City to the lower house of the Assembly. The county officers elected were: County attorney, Andrew Cole; judge of probate, H. S. Waterman; register of deeds, William B. Gere; sheriff, John Iams; sur- veyor, Robert Pike, Jr .; county commissioners, John C. Laird, Robert Pike, Jr., and W. B. Bunnell. The justices elected were: William H. Stevens, of Wabasha Prairie (Winona) ; H. B. Waterman and Robert Pike, Jr., of Minnesota City ; S. M. Burns, of Mt. Vernon, and Myron Lewis, of Minneowa.

This election led to the events which resulted in the division of Fill- more county and the creation of Houston and Winona counties. A number of land promoters, prominent in county affairs, unable to secure an interest in the Winona townsite, invested in a land scheme at Chatfield, and planned to establish the countyseat there. Late in the fall of 1853 it became ap- parent that the retiring board was strongly in favor of the new project. Therefore, on Dec. 19, 1853, commissioners Henry C. Gere and Myron Toms, with G. W. Willis as acting clerk, met at the Case cabin at Chatfield, in the Root River precinct and established the countyseat at Chatfield, in the center of section 6, township 104, range 11. The final meeting of the board was held at the home of W. B. Bunnell, at Homer, in the Minneowa precinct. Henry C. Gere and Myron Toms were present. Various bills to the amount of $411.47 were presented and county orders drawn for the amount. C. F. Buck was clerk pro tem. of this meeting.

The board of commissioners elected Oct. 11, 1853, consisting of Robert

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HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

Pike, Jr., John C. Laird and Willard B. Bunnell, met at the home of Robert Pike, Jr., in Minnesota City, Jan. 2, 1854, with W. B. Gere as clerk. W. B. Bunnell was made chairman. The bond of John Iams as sheriff was ac- cepted. Assessment districts were created. The first district was all of the county north of the north line of township 106; the second district was all south of the north line of township 106 and the north line of township 103; the third district was the three southern tier of townships. Houston county thus fell in the second and third districts. S. A. Houck was the assessor assigned to the first district, Hamilton McCollum to the second, and Edward Thompson to the third.

January 3, the board met at the same place, with Commissioners Robert Pike, Jr., John C. Laird and Willard B. Bunnell, and Clerk William B. Gere present. Although the previous county board had located the county seat at Chatfield, the meeting at which they had done so was the only time they met there, their subsequent meetings being held in the present Winona county. The 1854 board decided to take the matter in its own hands. A ballot being taken it was found that one member voted for Winona, one for Minnesota and one for Chatfield, Pike voting for his home village of Minnesota City, Laird for his home village of Winona, and Bun- nell, although he lived at Homer only a few miles from Winona, casting his vote for Chatfield, possibly because his friends were interested in the Chat- field land scheme, possibly because of pre-election promises, and possibly because of jealousy that the village of Winona, built on what he called a sand bar, should so rapidly outstrip his own village of Homer.

The next meeting of the board was held at the home of John C. Laird in Winona, Jan. 7, 1854. All the members were present. At this meeting, the county having no income, it was found that the liabilities were $536.86. M. Wheeler Sargent was appointed county attorney, and C. F. Buck, judge of probate, in place of Andrew Cole and H. B. Waterman, who had failed to qualify. The question of the county seat came up and by a unanimous vote it was located at Chatfield, on section 6, township 104, range 11, Pike and Laird having given up the fight because of the certainty that the county would be divided, with Minnesota City and Winona in a different county from Chatfield.

As early as the previous winter, the people of Winona had begun to talk of a new county with Winona as the county seat, leaving Chatfield in Fillmore county. Samuel McPhail and others desired still another new county in the southeast corner of the State, with Brownsville as countyseat. Conferences were held, boundary lines discussed, and an agreement reached. H. D. Huff, of Winona, a well known hotel keeper, L. H. Springer, of St. Charles, and Samuel McPhail, of Brownsville, were among the leaders in the move. Mr. Huff having time and money at his disposal went to St. Paul and was active in creating sentiment in favor of the bill for the division of Fillmore county which was introduced in the lower house of the Territorial Assembly by O. M. Lord, of Minnesota City, who was a member of that body. G. W. Willis, a prominent promoter of the Chatfield land project, opposed the bill but his opposition was futile. Mr. Willis succeeded, how- ever, in having a bill passed granting a charter to the Chatfield Land Co. 7

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Mr. Lord's bill was approved Feb. 23, 1854, and was signed by N. C. D. Taylor, speaker of the house; S. B. Olmstead, president of the council, and W. A. Gorman, Governor of the Territory. By this bill, the counties of Houston and Winona were created, and new boundaries defined for Fillmore, Wabasha and Goodhue.

Houston was given its present boundaries. On the first Tuesday in April following, a special election was to be held for the selection of three county commissioners, one register of deeds, one county treasurer, one sheriff, one district attorney, one judge of probate, one county surveyor, one coroner, three assessors, one supervisor of roads for each road district, two justices of the peace and two constables for each precinct. The election returns were to be canvassed by the register of deeds of Fillmore county, who was to issue certificates to the successful candidates who could then qualify immediately. As a preliminary to the election, the Governor was authorized to appoint inspectors of election in each precinct. The county- seat was established at Brownsville.

The first meeting of the county commissioners of the newly created Houston county was held at Brownsville, May 26, 1854. The three com- missioners present, constituting the board, or, as the clerk quaintly calls it, "the court," were Samuel McPhail, Ole Knudson and Joseph Lovesee. James A. McCan, register of deeds, sat as clerk. Samuel McPhail was selected as chairman. The first business was to divide the county into the election precincts of Brownsville, Pine Creek, Root River, Spring Grove and Caledonia. Three assessment districts were established, the first taking in the southeast part of the county, the second the southwest part, and the third the northern part, the assessors being respectively D. D. Brown, R. L. Young and George Canon. Expenses to the amount of $23.82 for the election of April 4, 1854, were ordered paid. Petitions for various roads were presented. Two were refused and two routes were ordered viewed. The two ordered viewed extended from Brownsville along the main routes of travel, one to the forks of the Root River near Houston, and one by way of Caledonia to the west line of the county. James A. McCan was ordered to have a desk made for the use of the register of deeds. Matthias Richmond was appointed constable of the Brownsville precinct and Thomas H. Parmelee of the Caledonia precinct.

The second meeting was held June 8, 1854, Messrs. McPhail and Lovesee being present and Mr. Knudson being absent. D. D. Brown of the first assessment district, George Canon of the third assessment district, and Elijah Ferguson, appointed in place of R. L. Young who failed to qualify from the second district, presented their bonds and received their assess- ment rolls and charts. A tax of ten mills was levied, nine mills for the county and one for the Territory. The two road petitions laid over from the previous meeting were granted and roads ordered viewed from Browns- ville to the Iowa line in Winnebago township and from Brownsville to the Root River at Jacob Beusches. A petition was presented for a road from Brownsville by way of William Oxford's on Crooked Creek; George Powles- land's, the east line of section 31, township 102, range 5, and Norwegian

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HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

Ridge to the Fillmore county line near the rolling mill at Riceford. School District No. 1 was created at Brownsville.

The commissioners met July 3 and at once adjourned to July 5. On that date considerable business was transacted. Road 5 from Oxford's to Riceford; Road 6, from the northeast corner of the county by way of Thompson's sawmill and Norwegian Ridge to the Iowa line; Road 7, from Thompson's sawmill by way of Edwin Butterfield's and Levi West's to intersect with the Brownsville-Caledonia road; and Road 8, from Browns- ville by way of Thompson's sawmill and the forks of the Root River to the western line of the county, were ordered viewed. Surveys on Roads 1, 2, 3 and 4 were accepted. Eight road districts were created and super- visors appointed. William McConnell was granted a license for six years to operate a ferry across the Mississippi at Taylor's lime kiln. A license was granted L. D. Smith to sell spiritous liquors by the quart, and one to Ole Knudson to sell liquors at retail at the fork of the Root River were granted, the fee in each case to be $20. School districts 2 and 3 were created at and near Houston.

The fourth meeting of the commissioners were has held Oct. 2, 1854, Messrs. McPhail and Knudson being present and Mr. Lovesee absent. The session continued for several days, Mr. Lovesee appearing on the second day. Peter Cameron was granted a license to operate a ferry across the Mississippi at Cameron's landing near the northern line of the county. L. D. Selfridge was granted a license to sell spiritous liquors by the quart, and O. N. Thayer was granted a retail liquor license at Brownsville. School district No. 4 was created in the vicinity of Hokah. A road was ordered viewed commencing at the home of M. M. Taylor and extending by way of John S. Looney's to the county line near the mouth of Rush Creek on the best route toward Chatfield.

At the fifth and last meeting of the first county board, held Oct. 28, 1854, on petition of Job and Charles Brown, proprietors of Brownsville, that village was duly confirmed as a townsite according to statute.

Thus was the machinery of county government set in motion. The system of county government by a commission of three members, appointed from districts, continued in force during territorial times. The successive boards of commissioners during these years were as follows: 1855- James Smith (chairman), Ole Knudson and Samuel Armstrong. 1856- Ole Knudson (chairman), Samuel Armstrong and Alexander Batcheller. 1857-Samuel Armstrong (chairman), James C. Day and Alexander Batcheller. 1858-Alexander Batcheller (chairman), Henry T. Fox and Frederick Gluck. The last meeting of this board was held July 8, 1858.

Minnesota was admitted as a State May 11, 1858. Previous to this, on March 20, 1858, Charles L. Chase, acting territorial governor, approved an act passed by the legislature providing for township organization. Under this act, on April 5, 1858, the commissioners of Houston county created fourteen townships-La Crescent, Hokah, Brownsville, Crooked Creek, Jef- ferson, Mayville, Winnebago, Houston, Sheldon, Caledonia, Wilmington, Hamilton, Yucatan and Spring Grove. Union was created April 29, 1858, to take effect Feb. 1, 1859. Although there have been many changes in the

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boundaries since that time, these townships correspond in general with the present townships, with the exception that the northwestern township is now Money Creek instead of Hamilton, Black Hammer has been created from Spring Grove, and Mound Prairie from La Crescent and other towns. By a legislative act approved by Governor Henry H. Sibley, Aug. 13, 1858, further provisions were made for county and township government. Under this act, it was provided that the counties of the State should be governed by a board of supervisors consisting of the chairmen of the various town- ships, and a representative from each ward of each incorporated city.

Under this act the Houston county board of supervisors held its first meeting at the court house in Caledonia, Sept. 14, 1858, being called to order by James A. McCan, the register of deeds, who had served as clerk of the board of commissioners since the county was first organized. Four- teen townships having been created, the board consisted of fourteen mem- bers-Alonzo Adams, Alexander Batchellor, Charles H. Brown, John Brown, Stephen Bugbee, Daniel Cameron, D. F. Case, Frederick Gluck, Robert Kenney, Joseph A. Melvin, William Schwindew, C. W. Thompson, C. C. Chase and George Powlesland. The place of the last named was later taken by John Powlesland. L. D. Selfridge claimed a seat from Brownsville vil- lage, under the law which under certain circumstances admitted to member- ship in the board the senior alderman from the wards of an incorporated city. The board, after due investigation, recorded a triple riveted opinion that Brownsville was not an incorporated city within the meaning of the county organization act, that if it were incorporated it had no wards, and that if it were incorporated and had a ward there was no evidence that Mr. Selfridge was the senior alderman of the ward, and, furthermore, that Brownsville was already ably and amply represented by Mr. Gluck. Stephen Bugbee acted as chairman pro tem. on motion of C. W. Thompson, and appointed a committee consisting of D. F. Case, Alonzo Adams and Alex- ander Batcheller to draw up the rules by which the board was to be gov- erned. Thomas H. Conniffe, the district attorney, presented to the board the act of the legislature concerning the election in the town of Houston. This election had been held at Looneyville, May 13, 1858, and the legisla- ture by act approved Aug. 10, 1858 (Chapter CLII, Special Laws of 1858) had legalized it. The legislature also, by act approved Aug. 11, 1858 (Chapter CXCI, Special Laws of 1858), had legalized certain irregularities in the creation of townships by the county commissioners in Houston, Brown, Stearns and Chisago counties.

After hearing these laws read, and adopting the rules presented by the committee, the board elected as chairman, C. W. Thompson, who received the votes of Messrs. Adams, Brown (C. H.), Bugbee, Cameron, Case, Chase and Melvin. Messrs. Batcheller, Kenny, Powlesland, Brown (John) and Schwindew voted for Frederick Gluck. Mr. Thompson voted for Mr. Bugbee. Mr. Gluck did not vote. It was arranged that much of the routine business of the board should be considered by regular committees, as fol- lows: Treasury, Melvin, Cameron, Batcheller ; clerk's office, Chase, Kenny and Brown (C. H.) ; claims and accounts, Case, Melvin, Batcheller; justices and constables, Bugee, Gluck and Adams; roads and bridges, Cameron,

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Schwindew, Brown (C. H.) ; supplies for public offices, Powlesland, Bugbee, Schwindew; register's and clerk of court's offices, Kenny, Chase and Cam- eron; overseers of the poor, Brown (John), Kenney, Adams; printing, Case, Brown (C. H.), Batcheller; public buildings, Melvin, Brown (John), Cameron; assessment and equalization, Bugbee, Case, Powlesland; schools and school districts, Adams, Gluck, Chase. F. S. Bugbee was appointed clerk of the board, and thus became the first auditor of Houston county.

The second board of county supervisors met July 20, 1859. On motion of Robert Kenny, Dr. G. J. Sheldon was appointed temporary chairman. There was some question as to the legality of the call for the meeting, and in addition to this the date was in advance of the time set by law for the annual meeting, but of the twelve present at the meeting, only two, John Dorsh and Henry Snure, voted against proceeding with the organization of the new board. The other ten members were Thomas McRoberts, who was chosen as chairman, Dr. G. J. Sheldon and Robert Kenny, already mentioned; Adolph Knobloch, D. C. Sherman, Andrew Hanson, Charles B. Lilly, Matthew McGinnis, Josephus Seeley and John Schwindew. Later J. P. Schaller took his seat, making thirteen members in all.

The regular annual meeting of the second board was held Sept. 13, 1859. The board consisted of fifteen members, those in addition to the ones present at the July meeting being C. W. Thompson, D. F. Case, Julius Bill- ings and James Langmore. It was decided that Robert Kenny was not entitled to membership on the board, and in October, 1859, P. Fleming took his place. But the district court decided in favor of Mr. Kenney, and he again took his seat Nov. 9, 1859, sustained by a court mandamus.

The supervisor system did not long continue in Minnesota, though it is still in vogue in Wisconsin. Instead, the State of Minnesota in 1860 adopted the wiser plan of county government by commission, one com- missioner representing each district.

The board of county commissioners met June 4, 1860. The members were John Dorsh (chairman), Edward Thompson, J. P. Schaller, John Phelps and Dr. G. J. Sheldon. Of these, Messrs. Dorsh, Schaller and Shel- don nad served on the previous board of supervisors. The first action of this board was to divide the county into commissioners' districts. Several distributions were proposed, that finally decided upon being as follows: 1, La Cresent and Hokah; 2, Mound Prairie, Houston, Hamilton (Money Creek) and Yucatan; 3, Caledonia, Sheldon and Union; 4, Brownsville, Crooked Creek, Jefferson and Mayville; 5, Winnebago, Wilmington, Spring Grove and Black Hammer.

The system thus established, the county commissioners have since continued to exercise the duties of their office in the manner provided by statute. The county has been fortunate in the case of men it has elected as commissioners, and the public affairs have been well and ably admin- istered.

The successive county officers have been as follows:

County Superintendent of Schools-The early county superintendents were appointed by the county board. Later it was made a regular elective office. The first superintendent in Houston county was Rev. James Froth-

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ingham, appointed by the board May 2, 1864. At the beginning of the fall term of that year, Mr. Frothingham resigned and W. J. Parrott was appointed. He was followed the next year by David P. Temple, who in turn was succeeded by W. H. Harries. Then came J. B. Le Blond. The next superintendent, D. C. Cameron, served for a long term of years, and inau- gurated many improvements. Since then the superintendents have been : 1887, James Brady ; 1889, F. W. Noyes; 1891, Fannie Lapham ; 1897, George H. Kuster; 1901, S. N. Ristey ; 1905, Georgina Lommen; 1913, Marie Otter- nees ;, 1919, Mary C. Weida.

Judge of Probate-The first judge of probate, elected in the spring of 1854, was Dr. G. James Sheldon. His successors have been : 1855, E. A. Goodell; 1858, Edward Bogan; 1860, John H. Smith; 1862, Edward Bogan; 1864, John H. Smith; 1868, Edmund Null; 1870, W. H. Birdsell; 1872, J. W. Cook; 1880, A. J. Flynn; 1889, Thomas Ryan; 1899, Lars Budahl (died Aug. 13, 1909) ; 1909, Charles A. Dorival. Judge Dorival is still serving.

Clerk of the District Court-James A. McCan sat as clerk of the first court held in Houston county, Oct. 20, 1855. He also sat at the term of June 23, 1856. James J. Belden sat the first time Oct. 20, 1856, and the last time Oct. 21, 1865. During a part of his term, John J. Dunbar, the deputy, acted as clerk. John Dorsh sat the first time May 15, 1866, and the last time Oct. 19, 1869. Joseph Vossen sat for the first time May 3, 1870. G. J. Lomen sat for the first time at the May term in 1878. He resigned his office, and E. K. Roverud, who was appoointed, sat for the first time at the May term of 1886. That fall Moses Emery was elected and took office in January, 1887. Frank Bartholomew served from 1895 to 1899, D. P. Stewart from 1899 to 1911, and Charles L. Metcalf from 1911 to the present time.

Sheriff-The first sheriff of Houston county was Matthew Williams. He was followed in 1858 by Edmond Kelley, who in turn was succeeded in 1861 by William W. Willis. Joseph G. Prentiss became sheriff Jan. 1, 1865. R. F. Judd took office Jan. 1, 1867. His successors have been : 1871, John Phelps; 1873, S. W. Walker ; 1875, Mark Hargreaves; 1879, Walter Goergen; 1885, George C. Drowley ; 1893, George N. Blexrud; 1901, Frank H. Evans; 1903, Jacob Johnson; 1907, Christ K. Blexrud (Mr. Blexrud died July 25, 1912, and his brother, H. J. Blexrud, was appointed in his place) ; 1913, George N. Blexrud ; 1919, William H. Abbotts.

Register of Deeds-The first register of deeds of Houston county was James A. McCann, who was likewise clerk of the county board and clerk of the county court. In 1859 he was followed by D. L. Buell. The succeed- ing registers were: 1863, D. N. Gates; 1865, J. W. Cook; 1871, Edward S. Bugbee (died in office and was followed Aug. 7, 1873, by N. E. Dorival) ; 1874, P. H. Rosendahl; 1875, James McMahon; 1877, P. H. Rosendahl (died in office in 1880, and his term was filled out by John Aiken) ; 1881, Mahlon Farmin; 1885, H. Herzog; 1889, O. K. Dahle; 1893, James O. Dono- van; 1897, H. H. Snure; 1899, Clemence E. Styer; 1905, Adolph Eiken; 1919, N. C. Koel. Mr. Koel is serving at the present time.

Treasurer-The early lists of treasurers is somewhat incomplete. D. N. Gates was appointed treasurer Jan. 2, 1855. He resigned April 27, 1855,

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and James J. Belden was appointed. William E. Marlow was treasurer in 1857, followed in 1859 by W. H. Bunce. Matthew Williams took office in 1860, and disappeared in May, 1861. On May 17, 1861, the county board appointed W. H. Lapham. John J. Dunbar served in 1862. The succeeding treasurers were: 1863, Charles A. Coe; 1870, Samuel Aiken; 1874, Elias Velo; 1876, John F. Russell; 1882, H. H. Snure; 1889, E. E. Stewart; 1893, Ole G. Laugen ; 1901, O. E. Burtness ; 1919, F. H. Snure.

Auditor-In the early days the register of deeds sat as clerk of the county board. The first to serve after the county was created was James A. McCann, who was likewise clerk of court. E. S. Bugbee was appointed clerk of the board Sept. 14, 1858. A. V. Pierce became auditor and clerk of the board Dec. 14, 1858. He was followed in 1861 by Truman B. Neff. Since them the auditors have been as follows: 1863, Edward Dorival; 1865, N. E. Dorival; 1871, James H. Cooper; 1875, E. W. Trask; 1881, E. K. Roverud; 1889, C. J. Scofield; 1901, C. C. Eberhard; 1907, Robert Burns; 1915, E. N. Newhouse. Mr. Newhouse is now serving.

County Attorney-In the early days there was much shifting about in the office of county attorney, and at times the county board employed law- yers to act in that capacity, regardless of who had been elected. Jan. 3, 1855, O. W. Streeter was appointed to the office. In 1856, Hugh Brown nominally filled the position. Upon his death, July 7, 1856, W. B. Beebe was appointed. Following him, in 1857, Thomas H. Conniff served. March 13, 1859, the county board voted to employ Wyman Trask, but on July 21, 1859, recognized Mr. Conniff as still officially holding the position. March 31, 1861, he resigned and John Montgomery was appointed in his place. Orville T. Gilman was appointed a few months later. Up to this time, how- ever, the services of the county attorney were confined for the most part to giving advice to county officials, and the criminal prosecutions in the district court appear to have been in the hands of Morton S. Wilkinson of St. Paul and Samuel Cole of Chatfield. Mr. Gilman removed in 1860, and James R. Lawrence, after serving for a time in his place, was regularly appointed to the office Sept. 16, 1861. Next came Thomas H. Conniff, D. L. Buell, Wyman Trask, R. A. Murray and J. H. Smith. In 1871, W. H. Har- ries took office, followed in 1873 by John H. Smith. Mr. Smith resigned to go to the legislature and James O'Brien was appointed. Mr. Harris took office again in 1879, and Mr. O'Brien came in again in 1881. Since then the county attorneys have been as follows : 1883, C. S. Trask; 1885, Dwight A. Buell; 1887, James O'Brien; 1889, E. H. Smalley ; 1891, C. S. Trask; 1901, O. K. · Dahle; 1913, W. A. Deters; 1915, O. K. Dahle; 1919, W. E. Flynn.

County Surveyor-There was considerable confusion in the county surveyor's office in the early days. Viewers and surveyors were appointed for individual roads, and consequently many citizens in different parts of the county received pay for county surveying work. Eugene Marshall was probably the first county surveyor. He resigned Oct. 5, 1856, and J. P. Segg was appointed. F. N. Goodrich served in 1858. George Gregory, Isaac Thompson, Wells E. Dunbar and C. H. Brown were all early county surveyors. Since 1869, the county surveyors have been as follows: 1869, F. N. Goodrich; 1873, E. L. Comstock; 1875, Isaac Thompson; 1877, Wil-

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History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 14

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1343

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343