USA > Minnesota > Olmsted County > History of Olmsted County, Minnesota > Part 21
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noon, at which there were present the grand master of the State, Gustav Widell, of Mankato; several of the grand officers, and more than three hundred Masons from the surrounding country and distant places. An address of welcome was made by J. A. Leonard, as the senior member of the lodge, and responded to by A. O. Eber- hart, of Mankato, grand orator. A golden trowel was presented to the lodge from Home Commandery and Halcyon Chapter, in an address by Dr. W. Allen, of the commandery. A souvenir coin in commemoration of the occasion was presented to every Mason present. It was a most enthusiastic gathering.
At night the greatest banquet ever held there was assembled in the large and beautiful Masonic Hall. Dr. O. C. Hyerdale, wor- shipful master, presided, and nearly four hundred Masons and ladies were seated at the tables. A history of the first twenty-five years of the lodge was read by A. T. Stebbins, and of the last twenty-five years by C. E. Callaghan. An address was made by Rev. Joseph B. Hingely, of Minneapolis, and toasts were responded to by the grand master, Dr. Charles H. Mayo; Calvin L. Brown, justice of the supreme court; Rev. Frank Doran, of Winona; H. R. Wells, of Preston; Chief Justice Charles M. Start; Attor- ney General E. T. Young, and L. L. Brown, of Winona. There was music by the Metropolitan Orchestra and singing by a quartet consisting of Hamlet Easton, John Magaw, Miss Willett and Mrs. M. H. Knapp. The very happy occasion ended at half past one o'clock in the morning.
Halcyon Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, was organized May 22, 1865.
Home Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, was organized in June, 1868.
Martin W. Cook came to Rochester in 1857 from Michigan. He was born in 1826 in the state of New York. He started the first dairy for furnishing the city with milk and sold it to Winnie & Granger. He established a nursery and small fruit farm, was the pioneer strawberry raiser and built up a large business in supplying the city and shipping to the West. He died in 1897.
George W. Lovejoy came to Rochester about 1857. He was born in Massachusetts, went to Ohio when a child and came from there to Minnesota, settling first at Utica. He was a violinist of unusual ability and was for years the leading musician and teacher of music of the city. He met death by drowning in the Zumbro while fishing, within the city, in June, 1905.
Rochester had not the rough wildness of the frontier town of the novels, but its development was orderly and peaceful. The only tragedy of the frontier type was a murder in the spring of 1858. Two men, one named Ashenherst, the other an unknown stranger, were playing cards in a saloon in a basement on Broadway and in
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a quarrel, Ashenherst was fatally stabbed by the other man, who fled and escaped. Some pursuit of him was made, but he disap- peared and all knowledge of him was lost.
Rochester's first bank was of the rather common variety of those days, known as wild cat. There was no government supervision of banks and any one could proclaim himself a banker and take in other people's money. A wild cat bank was one issuing currency without the expectation of redeeming it and the notes were gener- ally put in circulation as far away from the bank of issue as possi- ble, in the hope that they would never come home. About 1858 two well dressed and prosperous looking young men, whose names are not embalmed in history, rented an office, put in a large safe and called it a bank. The issue of currency constituted the principal business, and it went along till one day a man came to town carry- ing one of the black glazed traveling bags that were then in use. He went to the bank, opened the bag and brought out a bundle of the bills of the bank and asked the bankers to redeem them in money, and was told by them that they had no use for the bills, that nobody would take them and they could not buy anything with them. The man, who had bought up the bills at a discount, departed poorer and wiser, the bank was suspended and the young men left.
The charter of the city of Rochester was granted by the legisla- ture of 1858 and promptly adopted by a vote of the people. The first officers elected were: Mayor, Moses W. Fay; city justice, S. G. Whiting; recorder, Thomas Brooks; treasurer, E. Damon; marshal, Thomas Ireland; first ward aldermen, R. C. Gates, J. W. Everstine; justice, L. L. Eaton; supervisor, H. C. Greene; con- stable, I. M. Terrill; assessor, J. B. Allyn; street commissioner. J. V. Daniels; second ward, aldermen, S. Giesinger, J. M. Wil- liams; justice, J. P. Emerick ; supervisor, C. C. Cole; constable, H. Loomis; assessor, E. Damon; street commissioner, Moses Hurd; third ward, aldermen, C. H. Lindsley, L. Wynkoop; justice, Will- iam Hunter; supervisor, H. F. Mellen : constable, William Unger : assessor, H. Hyatt; street commissioner, H. E. Mellen.
The first brick store building is the two-story one, now John Powderly's shoe store, at the corner of Broadway and College street. It was built in 1858 by Dr. Lewis H. Kelly, who lived in the building several years. The front part was occupied, at differ- ent times, as a dry goods store by William McCullough and F. W. Andrews and by Upman & Poole as a drug store, and afterwards by Cassiday's restaurant. It has been occupied a number of years by Mr. Powderly.
Dr. Kelly was born in the state of New York in 1808, moved to Ohio and came from there to Rochester in 1857 and engaged in the practice of medicine. He left Rochester in 1864 and went to
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Owatonna and published a newspaper and from there to Northfield and Faribault, returning to Owatonna, where he died in 1872.
Hiram T. Horton came to Rochester to reside in 1858. He had been here two years before and made investments in real estate .. He was born in New York state in 1811, and was a carpenter. He lived four years in Ohio and went to Illinois and invested in real estate as early as 1837. He returned to New York in 1841 and lived there till he came to Rochester and became an extensive dealer in real estate. He was one of the most prominent citizens and highly regarded for his business capacity and excellent judgment. He served a term as alderman. About the year 1900 he went to Chicago, spent his remaining years there with his son, Horace E. Horton, and died in January, 1906, at the age of ninety-five years.
Horace E. Horton, son of Hiram T. Horton, was born in the state of New York in 1843. He came to Rochester with his father in 1858. He studied surveying and civil engineering at Fairfield Seminary, New York, and returning to Rochester, followed that profession. He built several bridges in this vicinity, was architect of the city hall and Northrop school house and was city surveyor several terms and county surveyor. He became a member of a large bridge building corporation and built a number of the largest bridges in the country, among them, one at Fort Snelling and one at St. Louis, and is a member of the leading societies of engineers. He removed in 1890 to Chicago, where he is still residing, engaged in this profession. His son, George, is also an eminent engineer and bridge builder.
George C. and David C. Cook, brothers, came to Rochester in 1858, bringing a livery stable outfit from Watertown, Wisconsin, where they had been in the business two years. They had pre- viously been railroad graders in Ohio. They were natives of Ver- mont. George being born in 1828 and David in 1829. They had for years the leading livery stable of the city. In the early years it was the gathering place of the socially inclined and the Sunday morning sessions were especially interesting. David was dry and shrewd and George was decidedly sociable and interested in public affairs. He was three times elected alderman and was elected city assessor in 1874 and held the office till 1901, twenty-seven years. David died in December, 1894, and George in December, 1901.
Lyman L. Eaton left the state of New York and located with his family in the spring of 1855 on a farm in Cascade, about four miles west of Rochester. He kept tavern there on the main thor- ough fare of westward travel, for a couple of years, and moved into Rochester. When the city was incorporated, in 1858, he was elected justice of the peace for the First Ward, and continued to administer the office twenty years, almost continuously till 1884. and two years
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of the time was city justice. He was sensible and fair, and his de- cisions were seldom appealed from. He died in February, 1887. His son, Burt. W. Eaton, is a prominent lawyer of Rochester.
Matthew Markham, who is still living in Rochester, came here in 1858. He was born in Rochester, New York, in 1826. He and his brother, Col. William Markham, served on a whaler and en- listed in the navy in the Mexican war, serving twenty-two months. On his return after the war he followed his trade of brick mason in Milwaukee, Oshkosh and in La Crosse, where he assisted in building the first brick house in the city. He went to Le Seuer county in this state in 1855, and from there to Sibley county. He has superintended the building of a number of the best brick struc- tures in the city. He was badly injured in a railroad wreck in Wisconsin in 1890, but has fairly recovered from it.
Peter M. Tolbert, a lawyer, came from the state of New York in 1858. He practiced in partnership with Lloyd Barber and after- wards for several years alone, doing a large business. He died in March, 1884. His son, Irwin Tolbert, is an extensive farmer in Rochester township.
Rev. R. Reynolds organized a church in the summer of 1855 under the title of the First Congregational Church and Society of Rochester, but his theology was not sufficiently orthodox and that fall Rev. Elias Clark, a missionary of the American Home Mis- sionary Society, came here and in January, 1858, organized a regu- lar Congregational church with twelve members. Mr. Clark was the pastor till September, 1860. Rev. H. H. Morgan afterwards preached for three months. He was followed by Rev. J. S. Whit- man, a scholarly young man and an orator. He remained about a year. In November, 1862, Rev. William R. Stevens came and remained till his health broke down. He died in 1867. In Novem- ber, 1866, Rev. A. Fuller came to the church and remained till July, 1874. when he went to Turkey as president of a missionary college. He returned after about thirty years' service and is now living in California. Rev. N. C. Chapin came in 1864 and staid till January, 1876. Rev. George P. Blanchard came in July, 1877, and staid till July, 1879. Rev. J. W. Bradshaw came in June. 1880, and staid till 1885, when he was followed by Rev. Jesse F. Taintor, who remained till 1903, filling a pastorate of eighteen years, one of the longest in the history of the city. He was the author, while here, of the "Evolution of the Madonna," a work that has been highly commended. He is now a professor in the Ripon, Wisconsin, College. He was succeeded in 1904 by Rev. Charles H. Curtis, who came from Windom, Minnesota, and was previous to that as- sistant pastor of Westminster Church, Minneapolis. He resigned in February, 1908, and went to the People's Church of St. Paul. The Congregational Church has now 285 members.
The building of the church edifice on Zumbro street was begun
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in 1863. The next year, before its completion, the walls were blown down in a storm and it was not till December of 1866 that it was finished. It had cost about $9,000. It has been improved from time to time and is a commodious and good-looking brick structure.
A semi-centennial celebration was held by the church Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the third, fourth and fifth of January, 1908, the fiftieth anniversary of its birth. A banquet was held at the church on Friday night, at which J. J. Casseday and L. O. Ben- jamin gave reminiscences of the early days of the church; Rev. Taintor spoke of his long pastorate and there was singing by Mrs. R. L. Blakely, accompanied by Mr. Blakely. A reception was held at the residence of Mrs. A. Gooding Saturday night, and two able sermons were preached by Rev. Taintor on Sunday. An important feature of the celebration was the raising of a subscription of $1,000, by which the church was placed in the novel position, for a church, of being out of debt.
The first services of the Protestant Episcopal Church were held by Bishop Kemper, of Wisconsin, in the summer of 1858. Calvary Parish was organized by Rev. Charles Woodward June 7, 1860. He came from St. Anthony, now part of Minneapolis. He con- tinued as rector until 1866, after which he was for several years a farmer in Kalmar. He was a native of England and a very estimable gentleman. He died in November, 1891. It was during his incumbency that the church on Zumbro street was built, being completed in 1866. It has been improved at different times and has now a very beautiful interior. In 1867 Rev. W. J. Johnston became the rector. He was succeeded in 1869 by Rev. David P. Sanford, who was succeeded in 1870 by Rev. A. Spor; succeeded by Rev. A. W. Seabrease in 1872; succeeded by Rev. Jason F. Walker in 1875; succeeded in 1878 by Rev. J. K. Karcher, who was.converted to the Catholic Church, and was succeeded by Rev. Charles T. Coer in 1880; succeeded in 1884 by Rev. R. N. Avery, who resigned in 1889. He was followed by Mr. Taylor, a student at Seabury Divinity School. Faribault, who was succeeded April 26, 1889, by Rev. William W. Fowler, who is still the rector. He came from Gethsemane Church, Minneapolis, and had been nine years a missionary to Santee Sioux Indians in Nebraska. Dur- ing his rectorship å guild hall has been built and subsequently en- larged; the church building has been twice remodeled in the in- terior ; memorial windows of beautiful design and artistic value have been placed in the sanctuary and nave, and a pipe organ of unusual sweetness has been placed in the choir.
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The number of communicants within the parish last reported to the bishop was 270.
Huber Bastian left a bequest of $1,000 to the church, and in 1907 Mrs. Margaret Brackenridge paid off the indebtedness of the church amounting to $1,700.
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The Zumbro river, which is subject at intervals of several years to great freshets, had the first known, and perhaps the greatest of those spasms, in the summer of 1859. A storm which lasted all night with downpouring steadiness, the rain pounding down in solid sheets, raised the river so that the next morning it was flooded and not less than fifteen feet above its ordinary level. It was most destructive in Rochester, carrying away the bridges and everything on or near the river banks. A young man named Nathan B. Rob- bins, from Boston, one of the proprietors of the Olmsted County Journal, was drowned in the reservoir of Cole's mill, while endeav- oring to dam the flood. He was a talented gentleman and his death was mourned by the little community as a public calamity.
Olan Oleson started a wagon shop on a small scale in 1859, which he developed into a large establishment, and, in partnership with Frank Larsen, built a large stone factory at the corner of Broadway and Fifth street, now occupied by Roth & Freeman's agricultural machinery store.
Mr. Oleson was born in Norway in 1825 and came to Chicago in 1853, and from Belvidere, Illinois, to Rochester.
The Rochester City Post was established by David and Cyrenus H. Blakely, brothers, in the fall of 1859. It lived to be the longest- lived paper in the city, and is still in existence as part of the Post and Record. After six years' successful publication by the Messrs. Blakely, it was sold, in 1865, to Leonard & Booth. In 1875 Mr. Leonard became the sole proprietor, Mr. Booth removing to Min- neapolis. The Post was issued as a daily for free distribution dur- ing each of the six state fairs held in Rochester. During the ab- sence of Mr. Leonard as United States Consul for two periods of four years each, it was conducted by Lewis H. and Pembroke S. Kelly, brothers, who were for a number of years foremen in the office. They started a daily edition under the name of the Leader in 1892. The title was afterwards changed by Mr. Leonard to the Daily Post. In 1899 the Post was sold to Charles P. Stine, of St. Paul, and transferred to Blakely & Son and consolidated with the Record and Union under the title of Post and Record. It ranks as one of the best local dailies of the state.
The Nordisk Folkeblad, a Norwegian newspaper, was established by Leonard & Booth, publishers of the Post, in 1868; edited by Sundorf Christenson, a native of Denmark, who came to Rochester from La Crosse. He was an able editor and the paper acquired a large circulation. After about nine months it was sold to Mr. Christenson, who moved it to Minneapolis. It was the first Scan- dinavian paper published west of the Mississippi river. Mr. Christen- son was afterwards assistant secretary of state and later a banker at Rush City, where he died.
The Kelly brothers were sons of Dr. Lewis H. Kelly, and came to Rochester with their father while children in 1857. They both
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learned the trade of printers and were very proficient at it. Lewis died in September, 1892, at Wilmot, South Dakota, where he was publishing a paper, and Pembroke is now conducting a job printing office in Rochester.
The Rochester City News was started in October, 1859, by C. W. Blaisdell. He ran it about a year when it was bought by Dr. L. H. Kelly and his son-in-law, William H. Mitchell, who published it as the Rochester Republican. Dr. Kelly retired, selling out to R. H. Hoag, from Northfield, in about a year. Hoag enlisted and Mitchell, in 1862, formed a partnership with S. W. Eaton as editor. In 1865 Mitchell sold to Mr. Eaton and U. B. Shaver, who conducted the paper till 1867, when the subscription list was bought by Leon- ard & Booth and Mr. Eaton became associate editor of the Post. Mr. Shaver took the material of the office to Kasson in 1867 and made a success for years of the Dodge County Republican. He died at Kasson in March, 1898.
Mr. Mitchell compiled a "History of Olmsted County," published in 1866, which is quite comprehensive down to that date.
Andrew Nelson came to Rochester in 1859. He was a native of Norway, born in 1837, came to America in 1844 and lived in Wis- consin previous to coming to Rochester. After being employed in the stores of George Wead, who was his brother-in-law, and Henry M. Kellogg, he opened a store of his own in 1862, which developed into a very large dry goods establishment, and later a wholesale carpet store. He had great force of character and was prominent in city affairs, being six times alderman and twice mayor. He died in July, 1891.
The German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1859 and the church building was erected in 1867. The first pastor was Rev. F. Groeschtenmeyer, who served from 1859 to 1860. Revs. C. Thalenhorst and F. Hermesmeyer followed in succession, each staying one year. Rev. H. Boettcher came in 1862 and staid till 1865; Rev. A. Lamprecht from 1865 to 1868; Rev. H. Roth from 1868 to 1871 ; Rev. Adam Miller came in 1871; Rev. F. W. Buck- holtz in 1873 ; Rev. George Hoerger in 1875, and Rev. H. Schnitker in 1877; each of these staid two years. Rev. F. Hogref came in 1879 and staid till 1882. Rev. H. Roth came again in 1882 and Rev. C. L. Lenhert in 1884, and each staid two years. Rev. J. C. Pfeifer staid from 1886 to 1887; Rev. G. A. Rabe from 1887 to 1889: Rev. C. A. Barchardt from 1889 to 1893; Rev. William Pagenhart from 1893 to 1895 : Rev. H. Clement from 1895 to 1900; Rev. W. F. Maas from 1900 to 1901; Rev. W. E. Baumgarten from 1901 to 1906, and Rev. F. C. Schulz, who is now the pastor, came in 1906. The church has sixty members.
Zion's Church, near Dover, organized in 1875. and Emanuel Church. on Greenwood Prairie in Farmington township, organized in 1877. are connected with the church at Rochester.
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Rev. I. M. Westfall, of Lafayette, Indiana, preached the first Universalist sermon in Rochester in the spring of 1860. He or- ganized a church and preached for it and at Mantorville, Cascade, Spring Valley and other places till 1863, when he moved away and the meetings were suspended till 1866, when the church was resur- rected by Rev. S. Wakefield, from Elkader, Iowa, assisted by Rev. S. W. Eaton, of Rochester. Mr. Wakefield was pastor of the church till the spring of 1868. During his incumbency a neat wooden church building was erected at the corner of Zumbro and Franklin streets, and it became known as Grace Church. Rev. H. L. Haywood, from Tecumseh, Michigan, was pastor for a year. He was succeeded by Rev. Miss Eliza Tupper, from Neenah, Wis- consin. She remained about six months, when she left and married W. A. Wilkes, a lawyer of Neenah. The next year was filled by Rev. J. W. Keyes, after which Mrs. Wilkes returned and was the shepardess till 1873. She was very popular. She was succeeded by Miss Florence E. Kollock, a student of thology from the state of New York, who remained about three months. Rev. George H. Deere came from Danbury, Connecticut, in January, 1875. He was a scholarly and cultivated gentleman and very pleasing speaker, and during his pastorate the present very comfortable brick church was built at a cost of $16,000. In 1881 Mr. Deere removed to Cali- fornia, where he is still living, and was succeeded by Rev. J. M. Payson, from Sherman, New York, who staid till 1886, and was followed in 1887 by Rev. W. H. McGlauflin, an eloquent and very popular pastor. He was succeeded in 1892 by Rev. L. D. Boynton, who was also eloquent and popular. He was succeeded in 1898 by Rev. L. W. Brigham, and he in 1902 by Rev. O. C. Evans. In 1905 Rev. George F. Patterson came and is still here, and the church is growing under his popular ministrations.
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, who was then located at La Crescent, Minnesota, held the first Presbyterian service at the old court house in January, 1861. Mr. Jackson and Rev. J. C. Caldwell, missionary for the Synod of St. Paul, organized the church February 17 of that year in Morton hall. The original members were: Mrs. John R. Cook, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McBride, John H. Hyatt, his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Hyatt, and Mr. and Mrs. George Miller. Mr. Jack- son was the minister till the services were procured of Rev. Robert F. Taylor, who resigned after a few months and returned to Ohio, where he died. Rev. George Ainslie, who had been a missionary to the Choctaw Indians, became the pastor in 1862, and Rev. Sheldon Jackson became his associate in 1864. In the fall of 1865 a neat frame church was finished on Zumbro street at a cost of $8,000. A manse was also built, and the church was presented with a 1,500- pound bell by a church of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1868 Mr. Jackson resigned and was succeeded by Rev. J. T. Killen, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and in 1873 he was succeeded by Rev. H. A.
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Newell, who was succeeded in 1882 by Rev. Cyrus A. Hampton, who staid till 1886. Rev. Charles H. Smith came in 1887 and staid a year. Rev. L. H. Mitchell came in 1889 and left in 1893. Rev. John Pringle staid from 1894 to 1895. Rev. Newman H. Burdick came in 1896 and staid till 1900. Rev. William B. Gantz came in 1901 and left in 1905 and was succeeded that year by Rev. Robert K. Wharton, who is the present pastor. The church has 250 members.
Mr. Jackson became a missionary in Alaska, was made commis- sioner of education by the United States Government and achieved a national reputation by obtaining reindeer from Siberia for domes- tication in Alaska.
Rev. George Ainslie was a native of Scotland. He filled appoint- ments for several years at Chester and other villages, and later lo- cated on a fruit farm adjoining Rochester, where he died in July, 1885. He was quite a naturalist, and his son, Charles N. Ainslie, who was for years a bookkeeper in the First National Bank, became an amateur entomologist and is now employed in that branch of the agricultural department at Washington. Another son, Rev. John Ainslie, was for several years a missionary in Turkey, and, return- ing, was several years a pastor at Washington, Fillmore county, and is now living in California.
John D. Blake came to Rochester in 1861 and opened a large dry goods store. He was born in Vermont in 1838, and was a clerk in a store at the age of sixteen years and early engaged in business for himself. He revolutionized the business of selling goods in Rochester. Up to his time business had been carried on in the old, easy-going way of buying and selling on credit and at a good profit and expecting goods to sell themselves, but Blake in- troduced the more modern methods of selling as nearly as possible for cash and getting rid of all surplus stock. The present system of low prices and forced sales and extensive advertising that have made the city a great center for retail trade had its initiation in his business methods.
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