History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 14

Author: Joseph A. Leonard
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 736

USA > Minnesota > Olmsted County > History of Olmsted County, Minnesota > Part 14

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).

The new county officers elected in November, 1882, were: Fay- ette L. Cook, of Rochester, superintendent of schools, and J. W. Flathers, of Pleasant Grove, and J. T. Price, of Eyota, county com- missioners-all Republicans.

C. A. Whited, auditor ; O. O. Baldwin, court commissioner, and J. N. Coe, county commissioners, were re-elected without opposition.

Fayette L. is a son of Martin W. Cook, deceased, who was a nurseryman and small fruit grower in Rochester. Fayette was born in Michigan in 1850, and came to Rochester while a child in 1859. He is a graduate of the Winona Normal School and taught in that institution and at other schools in the state. He superin- tended the county school energetically and efficiently till 1885, when he resigned to take the superintendency of the State Normal School at Spearfish, South Dakota, where he still is, after twenty-two years of able service.

John Wesley Flathers was born in Indiana in 1845 and came to Pleasant Grove township in 1855 with his father's family. He was educated in the schools of Chatfield and became a successful farmer on a large scale and a leader in the township. He was chairman of supervisors three years and town treasurer ten years. He was elected representative in the legislature in 1887, and served two terms. He removed in 1892 to Rochester, where he is still residing,

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and was elected county commissioner in 1904 and made chairman of the board, and is now serving a second term.

James T. Price was a native of England, coming to this country at an early age. He settled on a farm in Eyota township in 1858. He was one of the first to engage extensively in the raising of sheep, as well as other branches of farming, and was very pros- perous in that business and prominent in township matters. He died in 1902 aged seventy years.

In the legislative session of 1883 the representatives were M. J. Daniels, of Rochester; E. D. Dyar, of Dover, and J. Frahm, of Farmington; all Republicans. Messrs. Daniels and Dyar served two terms.

Emerson D. Dyar was born in Maine in 1814, and came to Minne- sota in 1866. He followed farming near Saratoga, Winona county, and moved from there to Dundas, Minnesota, engaging in the drug business, and from there moved to Eyota and was a banker and grain dealer there and afterwards in Dover. In 1892 he removed to Winona, and was very successful as a banker. He died in February, 1905.

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THE GREAT CYCLONES.

A TORNADO of extraordinary severity swept over the north- western part of this county on Saturday, July 21, 1883. Its origin was traced as far west as Spink county. Dakota, where the storm is said to have occurred about 6 o'clock in the morning, being a combination of rain. hail and wind, killing two people, seriously wounding a number of others and destroying the claim shanties and improvements of many settlers. Its course was eastward, almost along the boundary line between Kingsbury and Brookings county, at some points ten miles wide, striking Minne- sota in Lincoln county and hitting the neighborhood of Lake Ben- ton, Sleepy Eye, New Ulm and St. Peter, the principal damage being to the crops. At Mankato, Waseca and Meriden a number of buildings were destroyed. An east-bound passenger train was blown from the track near Owatonna and twenty-five persons were injured. Alan K. Williams and Miss Zickrick. of Rochester, and Miss Blake- slee, of Pleasant Grove, were seriously injured. At Owatonna many buildings and the fair grounds were damaged and a man was seri- ously injured. At Mantonville the court house and a barn were unroofed and on several farms in the neighborhood buildings were destroyed or damaged : one person. Mrs. Norton, was fatally injured and in the county of Dodge about twenty were wounded.

The storm struck Olmsted county, at noon, on the west line of Kalmar township. A new home of Richard Middleton was de- stroved. and Mrs. Middleton, who had retreated to the cellar, was killed. A farm a mile from Middleton's was destroyed and the occupant. George Arnold. his wife and his aged mother were severely hurt : one daughter was scalded and another had her leg broken. William Chilson's buildings were destroyed, but the family escaped. L. Young's home was destroyed, but he said he could not say he was destitute, for he had some flour and a ham. Henry Witsey lost all his property, but none of his family was hurt. The house, and its surroundings, of J. Rud and his wife. an elderly couple, were swept away and they were badly bruised and disabled. A large barn on the farm of Thomas Jorns was unroofed and a hundred tons of hay were destroyed. Frederick Portier's barns were un- roofed and hay and other property destroyed. At Jacob Grassle's two barns were destroyed and parts of them carried half a mile. The roof of a barn was divided. half of it going to the northwest unbroken, and the other half going to the northeast and breaking into thousands of pieces. Thousands of trees in the heavy timber

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TORNADO OF 1883 STRAWS DRIVEN INTO WOOD

TORNADO OF 1883 PLANK DRIVEN THROUGH A 14-INCH OAK TREE

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were blown down. A new barn, belonging to John Hoffman, was destroyed and a log barn unroofed.

Going northward the storm followed the town line between Cas- cade and Oronoco, eastwardly eleven miles. In Cascade township the barn and all outbuildings on the farm of C. Kimball were wrecked; all the buildings on Martin Kolbe's farm and a new barn on the farm of P. Koul were destroyed. In Oronoco township the brick school house, at Stone's Corners, was blown away, leaving the floor with a cabinet organ standing unharmed. At E. Clason's, everything was gone except the main part of the house. A large barn and a fine orchard were swept away. The buildings of D. Waldron and E. J. Gates escaped with less damages. The home of James Fleener, with all its contents, was destroyed. Mrs. Fleener, who was ill, was much shocked. Mrs. Mary Crofoot lost house, barn and everything. Every building of C. J. Hubbard was de- stroyed, and his wife badly hurt. Mr. Hubbard had placed his children in the cellar and thought he had jumped in himself. but the building had moved and he found himself under it. Mrs. Jones had nothing but the foundations left of a new house and new barn. Andrew Nickells lost every building and all their contents. A farm of E. Clason, occupied by Carl Ruebel was stripped of buildings and trees. D. Sonnenberg's house, barns and all their contents were destroyed. Mrs. Sonnenberg and two children were badly hurt. G. Podolske had a new house torn to pieces and a house built of large logs scattered as if the logs had been weeds. Mrs. Podolske and a daughter were seriously bruised. John Klu, a neighbor of Podolske, lost only his kitchen, and into the upright part of his house he gathered the families of Sonnenberg and Podolske, making with his own family, twenty-four persons, eighteen of them children and five in bed with wounds and bruises. On the farm of A. Joselyn every one of a grove of large burr oak trees, surrounding the house, was destroyed.

In Haverhill township a stone school house was demolished. The home of F. McIntyre, opposite the school house, was almost de- stroyed. He was in bed, an invalid; his leg was broken and his head and face cut. His wife was badly injured. Charles Simonds, a blind man, was carried a hundred feet ; a harvester was carried two hundred feet and and the barn was carried a hundred feet and set down in the timber. The stone residence of Fred Harvey and the frame residence of George Harvey were both totally demolished. Out of five wagons on the farm only one was useable. Their mother. an elderly lady. was nearly buried in the ruins of the stone house. E. F. Dodge and his wife started for their cellar; Mrs. Dodge reached the stairs and he was entering the cellar door with a baby in his arms when the house was lifted from the floor, carried eighty-five feet and left standing with Mr. Dodge and the baby

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inside, unhurt. The house and barn of Sumner Snow was torn to pieces and the furniture and dishes scattered over the farms. W. H. White's barns were badly damaged. C. E. Stacy's barn and crops were greatly injured. A house of Thomas Brooks, occupied by Joseph Hines, was badly damaged and moved two hundred feet from its foundation; on an opposite farm, an expensive hog house, sheds and cribs were blown away. The largest piece left of the Fitch school house was the black board. Amos Welch lost a wind mill; P. Walker lost a granary and sheds and W. Southwick a barn and sheds. A house, occupied by August Berendt, was destroyed and all its contents scattered. The family, including six children, escaped.

There were nineteen dwellings destroyed in the county, several of them being of the best of farm houses, and thirteen barns, many of them large and well built structures. And there were three school houses destroyed. There were eleven houses and nine barns un- roofed and moved from their foundations, making, in all, fifty-five structures destroyed. These were estimated to be worth, with their belongings, $44,000. The storm swept over 17,000 acres of land, 13,000 of which was under cultivation. The loss on crops in the county was estimated at $65,000. It was believed that the total property loss was not less than $110,000. Twenty families were rendered destitute. Only one person, Mrs. Middleton, was killed outright, but three others were believed to be fatally injured. Twenty persons were so injured as to require medical or surgical attention. The number of casualties was marvelously small.

Passing into the adjoining county of Wabasha, the storm wrought greater havoc, striking Elgin, a village of about two hundred and fifty people, destroying or badly injuring every business building and leaving scarcely a habitable residence. There, as in Olmsted county, the casualties were comparatively very few. One woman was killed, another had her skull fractured, an old gentleman's thigh was broken, a child's spine was injured and several persons were slightly injured.

As in all such cases, relief for the unfortunate was prompt and liberal. Meetings were held in Rochester, committees were ap- pointed and contributions collected throughout the county, the county commissioners appropriated $470. About twenty-five hun- dred dollars was raised within a few days and more later, so the immediate wants of the needy were supplied. Viola township also contributed $500 for its neighbors of Elgin.

A most appalling calamity was the cyclone that struck the county, and especially the city of Rochester, Tuesday evening. August 21, 1883, just a month to a day after the one that so nearly destroyed Elgin.

The storm was first felt in Dodge county, southwest of Dodge

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Centre. The farm of Mayor Whitten, of Rochester, was destroyed. His loss was $5,000. Five persons were killed in that county.

It struck Olmsted county in Salem township. The houses of Cyrus Holt and Luther McCoy were badly wrecked and the barns destroyed. The buildings of J. B. Little, L. Donovan, T. McGovern, W. P. Brooks, Ole Johnson, Amil Johnson and Ole Christensen were swept away. The house, granary, stables and all outbuildings of John and Joe Kemfermann were blown out of sight. The house of James McGovern was destroyed. All buildings and machinery on Fred Little's farm were destroyed. The house and outbuildings of Amun Anderson were destroyed. The house of Ole F. Engen was destroyed. Mrs. Stolson's house was unroofed. Mrs. Knues- sel's house was unroofed and barn moved. The house of Tom Donovan was destroyed. All the buildings of Tom Connolly were blown away. A house of Nels Jacobson, occupied by Peter Matson. was destroyed. All the buildings of Chris Johnson Lillo were de- stroyed, and his father, living with him, was killed.

In Kalmar township two large barns belonging to John McGovern were demolished.

In Cascade township a barn of S. B. Hall was blown away. The house and furniture of Peter Welch were damaged. James Buck- len's house was wrecked.

In Rochester township the house and sheds of John Bannon were blown away. The barn on George Stopple's farm was un- roofed and the chimneys blown down. Joe Stopple's kitchen was unroofed and the barn blown down. Dr. Clifton's barn was un- roofed. The barn of Mr. Kennedy was destroyed. J. D. Ostrom's barn and orchard were destroyed. The buildings on the John R. Cook farm were destroyed. The buildings on Mrs. Faitoute's farm were destroyed. The house of Mr. Higby was destroyed. George Baihly's barn was destroyed. The buildings on the farms of Moses Hurd and Mathew Clemens were badly damaged. and Frank Clem- ens' arm was broken. A large barn on H. T. Horton's farm with 130 tons of hay was demolished, Edwin Coon's leg was broken and four horses and four cows were killed. A. Engel's new house and barn were blown down. Mr. Musson's barn was overturned. The house on the Leland farm was destroyed.

At Rochester the day had been hot with a strong southeast wind, the air was smoky and oppressive. the heavens were overcast with clouds of a dull leaden hue, and there were, apparently, three strata, all moving in different directions. About three or four o'clock the clouds began to concentrate west of the city; a slight shower of rain passed over and for a few moments succeeding the air was perfectly still. The indications were so alarming that the farmers, of whom there were many, hurried out of town. Later, toward seven o'clock, light fleecy clouds were seen scudding athwart the sky at lighting speed, the great dark mass in the west assumed a

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greenish cast, the rain came down in sheets, the heavens blazed with yellow lightning and a terrible and terrifying roaring was heard. There was a resistless gale from the west, and dense dark- ness, in which the destruction was wrought almost in a minute. The storm abated and those who emerged from their homes or places of shelter found a wrecked city. Many of the streets were filled with uprooted trees and parts of buildings. Houses were un- roofed or blown down, and the contents of homes scattered and, worst of all, many persons were killed and more wounded.

The business center of the city, including the most valuable buildings, sustained little damage compared to the residence dis- tricts, and especially North Rochester. There was no loss of life in the business district : probably because most men had gone home to their evening meal.

George Stocking's new brick store building. at the corner of Broadway and Fourth street, was demolished, and Wayne Beards- ley's frame store adjoining it. The tin roof was torn off Heaney's block and Rommel's block was unroofed. The west end of A. D. Vedder's agricultural implement warehouse, a brick structure, was wrecked, and he and his wife, who had gone into the cellar, were saved by heavy timbers lodging above them. A frame build- ing opposite Vedder's, was badly wrecked. The fronts were blown out of the business houses of Bonham & Roth, Leet & Knowlton, Hebbard & George, J. W. Everstine, Seikert & Adler. C. Neiu- suess and G. Hargesheimer. The roof and cornice of Cook's Hotel were damaged. A gable of the Merchants' Hotel stable was blown in. Part of the front of Perry's livery stable was blown in. The side of Holtz's saloon was demolished. A wall of Livermore's foundry was blown out and the roof driven through the boilershop. Part of the roof of T. P. Hall's carriage factory was blown off.

C. C. Willson's barns were scattered. John R. Cook's barn was unroofed. George Head's residence on College street was unroofed. The roof of A. Gooding's residence was damaged. The spire was blown off the Congregational church. The dome and part of the roof of the court house were blown off. Walter S. Booth's resi- dence was unroofed. The Porter House and Mr. Schwaub's resi- dence were seriously damaged. The roof and front cupola of the Central School building were lifted off and the building damaged. Wayne Beardsley's house and barn were damaged. The chimney of the Baptist church was blown through the roof and the tower injured. The upper part of the west side of the Winona House leaned over the roof, and the roof of the barn was partly torn off. The spire of the Methodist church was blown down, the roof crushed and a wall damaged and the roof of the parsonage damaged. The cupola of the convent was damaged and a part of the roof torn off. and the upper story of the Catholic parsonage was de- molished. The residence of Mr. Emerick was damaged and Mr.

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Cammack's barn unroofed. Irving Fox's gunshop was racked. M. B. Rowley's blacksmith shop was partly gone. The center and roof of the building on the northwest corner of Sixth and Broadway were crushed. The skylight, roof and cornice of Crowell's photo- graph gallery were damaged. Dr. J. M. Williams' residence was slightly damaged. A. H. Gaskill's barn was destroyed. The roof of the creamery was torn off and the upper part of the north end crushed : the cooper shop and sheds were demolished. The resi- dence of J. L. Howie was badly damaged. The spire of the German Lutheran church was blown off. Moses' Hurd's barn was leveled. The west wing of DeWitt Smith's residence was torn off. Rev. Roth's barn was blown down. Mr. Brace's house was blown down. The roof of Mrs. Haney's house was blown off. The roof of Mrs. Murphy's house was damaged. The barn of Mr. Kelly and that of Mr. Heffron were wrecked. The roof of P. M. Tolbert's barn was blown off. The roof of the Broadway House was torn off and the building damaged. The roof of Whiting's elevator was damaged. N. F. Gilman's factory was demolished. The Rochester Harvester Works were ruined. S. H. Whitten's warehouse was destroyed.

The roof of the Chicago & Northwestern depot was torn off and the west end damaged. The warehouse was unroofed and the roundhouse demolished. Van Dusen & Co.'s elevator was unroofed. The horse power room of T. A. Whiting's elevator was torn down. The railroad bridge was blown into the river and the Broadway bridge was destroyed. The west end of Cole's mill, a strong stone building, was blown in, the roof blown off, the corner of a wall torn out, the machinery damaged and the cooper shops destroyed. Eight cars were overturned and two carloads of flour were in the race. The roof of H. T. Horton's house was damaged and the upper part of his barn blown off. O. P. Whitcomb's kitchen was blown off and his barn destroyed. Mathias Williams' saloon was damaged.

It was in North Rochester, a section of the city inhabited largely by working men, many owning their small homes, that the destruc- tion of property was most complete, and there only that lives were destroyed. Houses were actually swept away, and in several cases their occupants killed and the ground strewn with fragments of property and with the carcasses of animals.

The Third Ward School house was wrecked. The Scandinavian Hotel was damaged. The side and roof of A. Zierath's house were damaged. The roof of Peter Lind's house was torn off. The roof of Chauncey Vroman's house was damaged and his warehouse torn down. S. H. Whitten's dwelling, occupied by Mr. Manley, was ruined. The residence of Mr. Burse was destroyed. S. Vroman's dwelling was leveled. Mr. Rhoeder's house was ruined. The dwell- ings of Charles Carter, Daniel Raugh, Dr. Chapman and G. W. Pugh were in ruins. The residence of Robert Smith was destroyed.

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H. R. Flagg's dwelling was ruined. The houses of Messrs. Wooley, Luther, Ryan and Clough were destroyed. The houses of Mr. Mccutcheon and Pederson were partially ruined. The residence of Frank H. Allen was destroyed. Mrs. Proctor's house was moved from the foundation and badly racked. Mrs. Armstrong's house was damaged. The dwellings of Tal. Williams, Lewis Price, Wil- liam Pugh. Paul Jorden, Mrs. Howe and Peter Larson were ruined. A house owned by Asahel Smith and occupied by Mrs. Humphries and the house of S. H. Sargeant were destroyed. The dwellings of James Gardner and W. A. Wylie were ruined. The roof of S. . W. Eaton's house was blown off. Mrs. Shanahan's dwelling was unroofed. The houses of William Parker, George Hanson and L. J. Slade and the house and barn of John Proud were demolished. Mr. McCormick's house was damaged. L. H. Humason's house was ruined. A house belonging to Horace Cook was badly dam- aged. Mr. Granger's house, occupied by Herman Blank, was wrecked. Mrs. Warfield's house was unroofed. The houses of Mr. Gasky and Mr. Hagan were destroyed. A house of Louie Miller was wrecked. Houses owned by Messrs. Tondro, Kahily, Vaughn, Manley, Roeder, Martin and Conklin were annihilated. Mr. Leh- man's house, occupied by Mr. Fromis, was ruined. Frank Reed's house was destroyed. Mr. Turk's residence was destroyed The house and barn of John Vedder were blown down. The dwell- ings of Mr. Hagadorn and of J. B. Wagoner were destroyed. The houses of Mr. Weinreibe, Mr. Gordy and Mr. Swanie were ruined. H. A. Brown's house, occupied by Thomas Clark, was ruined. The dwellings of Mr. Osborn and Mr. Mitzkie were ruined. William Brown's house was wrecked. The dwellings of Messrs. Bolin, Morse, Richardson and Burch were ruined. The upper story of Horace Cook's residence was blown off. The dwellings of Messrs. Peterson and Briggs were ruined. The wing and roof of John Han- son's dwelling were demolished. The main part of James Elliott's house was ruined. Charles Ballard's house was destroyed. William Hines' house was badly damaged and his barn blown down. John M. Cole's house was slightly damaged. A house of Mr. Hull, occu- pied by C. T. Sears, was wrecked. T. A. Whiting's dwelling was badly damaged. A wing of Mr. Buttle's house was torn off and his barn blown down. Mr. Radabaugh's house was unroofed and the barn blown down. The wing was torn from E. F. Whiting's dwelling. Two houses belonging to Mr. Herrick were damaged. Mr. Mapes' house was damaged. The end and roof of B. H. Elli- son's house were torn off. Frank Lovell's shop was torn to pieces. B. R. Birch's house was moved from the foundation. The roof of John Miller's house was torn off and his barn destroyed. The roof was torn off and John Oleson's house blown from the founda- tion. H. Manley's house was ruined. One house belonging to Mrs. Smith was ruined and another unroofed. M. Y. Burroughs had two

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houses and a barn ruined. A house owned by Mrs. Graeff was badly damaged. Mrs. Garner's house was destroyed. Charles Hagadorn's house was blown from the foundation and the kitchen blown off. Mr. Bedie's residence was blown from the foundation and the roof blown off. Mrs. Chester's house was destroyed. Peter Gaffney's house was destroyed. A house owned by Mrs. Cutler and occupied by Mrs. Dove, was damaged. Mr. Doll's house was slightly dam- aged. C. W. Baldwin's barn was blown down.

The storm crossed the Fifth street bridge, but did comparatively little damage on the east side. Asahel Smith's barn was unroofed. Part of the wing of David Lesuer's brick residence was torn down and the main building unroofed. The roof of Rev. A. H. Kerr's residence was damaged. Mrs. Gilbert Smith's brick dwelling, occu- pied by William West, was unroofed.

Passing northeastward from Rochester the storm swept through Haverhill, Viola and Quincy townships.

In Haverhill the farms of S. Geisinger and C. C. Willson were devastated. The houses of Mr. Jenkins and Mrs. Welch were de- stroyed. All the buildings on John Canty's farm were destroyed and Mr. Canty was killed. Buildings on the farm of P. J. Quintin were destroyed and his son, Charles, was seriously injured. The house and all outbuildings of Mrs. S. B. Martin were destroyed. A large barn and outbuildings of C. M. Smith were a total loss and the house badly damaged. The house on Captain Bedill's farm was badly damaged and all other buildings destroyed. The Flyng school house was destroyed. All the buildings on the Lawler farm were swept away. All the buildings were destroyed and stock killed on the Lovejoy farm. All outbuildings were destroyed on A. Allen's farm. On H. K. Blethen's farm all buildings but the residence were destroyed. The town hall was moved from its foundation. P. J. Lumland lost every building. Every grave stone in the cemetery was blown down. All the barns on F. Adler's farm were destroyed. All buildings on L. L. Allen's farm were destroyed. On Allan K. William's farm all buildings were ruined.

In Viola P. F. Wells' dwelling house was destroyed and Mr. and Mrs. Wells were injured; Mrs. Wells seriously. Henry Stanch- field's buildings were destroyed and the loss was estimated at $7,000. A house on the H. H. Richardson farm was lifted from the founda- tion and carried several rods. M. L. Sawyer's barn was blown down. The outbuildings of R. F. Johnson and J. R. Williams were destroyed. On Thomas Richardson's farm the end and roof of the house and outbuildings were blown away, and Henry C. Richard- son seriously hurt. Buildings of J. G. Buckley, A. Helms, G. Heimschrot. G. H. Mueller. Charles \. Callaghan and H. H. Vine were destroyed or damaged.

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History of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Part 14

Author: Joseph A. Leonard Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Number of Pages: 736

Author: Joseph A. Leonard
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 736