USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 17
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Twenty-sixth Legislature.
The twenty-sixth legislature met January 8 and continued in session until April 23, 1889. At this session Otter Tail county was represented in the Senate by James Compton, and in the lower House by John B. Hompe and Jens C. Dunham.
At this session of the Legislature another apportionment was made by which seven additional legislative districts were created in the state. Otter Tail county was designated as the forty-eighth legislative district and given two additional representatives. Since that time the representation in this county has been one senator and four representatives.
Twvency-seventh Legislaturc.
The twenty-seventh Legislature assembled January 6, and adjourned April 20. 1891. John B. Hompe represented Otter Tail county in the Senate at this session : H. P. Bjorge, A. O. Richardson, S. H. Ongstad and Thomas Cole were representatives of the county in the lower House.
Twenty-eighth Legislature.
The twenty-eighth Legislature assembled January 3, and adjourned April 18, 1893. Otter Tail county had the same persons as representatives in this as in the preceding Legislature, namely, Senator John B. Hompe, Rep- resentathives H. P. Bjordg, A. O. Richardson, S. H. Ongstad and Thomas Cole.
Twenty-ninth Legislature.
The twenty-ninth Legislature assembled January 8, and adjourned April 23, 1895. Dr. A. B. Cole was the senator from Otter Tail county; E. A. Bickford, H. Mickleson, A. T. Vigen and A. O. Richardson were representa- tives from this county.
Thirtieth Legislature.
The thirtieth Legislature assembled January 5, and adjourned April 21, 1897. Representatives from Ottter Tail county in this assembly were A. B. Cole. in the Senate, and John O. Emerson, A. T. Vigen, T. H. Froslee and Knud Pederson in the lower House.
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A new apportionment was made by this Legislature by which nine additional legislative districts were created in the state. Under this apportion- ment Otter Tail county was designated as the fifty-ninth legislative district. The representation still remained, one senator and four representatives.
Thirty-first Legislature.
The thirty-first Legislature assembled January 3, and adjourned April 18, 1899. At this session Otter Tail county was represented in the Senate by M. J. Daly; in the lower House by Knud Pederson, Henry Plowman. E. C. Weston and C. N. Haugen.
Thirty-second Legislature.
The thirty-second Legislature assembled January 8, adjourned April 12, 1901. At this session Otter Tail county was represented in the Senate by M. J. Daly, and in the lower House by C. N. Haugen, Henry Plowman, S D. Rider and Ole Sageng.
Thirty-third Legislature.
The thirty-third Legislature assembled January 6, 1903. The name of A. B. Cole appears again as senator from Otter Tail county in this Assembly. Representatives from the county in the lower House were C. N. Haugen. M. Walz, Knud W. Bondy and M. S. Jones.
Thirty-fourth Legislature.
The thirty-fourth Legislature assembled January 3, 1905. Otter Tail county is represented in the Senate by A. B. Cole ; in the lower House by C. N. Haugen, H. T. Hille, Knud W. Bondy and Elmer E. Adams.
Thirty-fifth Legislature.
The thirty-fifth Legislature assembled January 8, 1907. At this session Otter Tail county is represented in the Senate by Ole O. Sageng; in the lower House by Charles L. Alexander, J. T. Johnson, Michael Walz and Elmer E. Adams.
Thirty-sixth Legislature.
The thirty-sixth Legislature assembled January 25. 1909. Otter Tail county is represented in the Senate by Ole O. Sageng: in the lower House by J. T. Johnson, Elmer E. Adams, C. J. Wright and H. A. Putnam.
Thirty-seventh Legislature.
The thirty-seventh Legislature assembled January 3, and adjourned April 19, 1911. Ole O. Sageng continues as a member of the Senate. The mem- bers of the lower House from Otter Tail county at this session were J. T. Johnson, H. A. Putnam, Alex Nelson and R. J. Lindberg.
Thirty-eighth Legislature.
The thirty-eighth Legislature assembled January 7, and adjourned April 24, 1913. Otter Tail county is represented in the Senate by Ole O. Sageng.
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and in the lower House by G. T. Braatellen, J. T. Johnson, R. J. Lindberg and H. A. Putnam.
At this session of the Legislature another apportionment is made by which four additional representative districts are created in the state. Under this apportionment Otter Tail county is made the fiftieth legislative district, instead of the fifty-ninth, under the former apportionment. The representa- tion remains the same-one senator and four representatives.
Thirty-ninth Legislature.
The thirty-ninth Legislature assembled January 5, 1915. Ole O. Sageng continues as the member of the Senate from Otter Tail county under the new apportionment. The representatives from this county are Elmer E. Adams, John B. Hompe, H. A. Putnam and J. T. Johnson. These were all elected at the general election, 1914.
STATE AND NATIONAL OFFICIALS FROM OTTER TAIL COUNTY.
There have been several citizens of Otter Tail county who have at various times held state offices and at least one lawyer of the county has gone to Washington as a United States senator. Moses E. Clapp was attorney-general of the state from 1887 to 1893, while he has been a member of the United States Senate since January 23, 1901. His present term expires March 4, 1917. Another lawyer of Fergus Falls to become attorney-general of the state is A. W. Childs, who was an incumbent of the office from 1893 to 1899. Clifford L. Hilton, former county attorney of Otter Tail county, is now first assistant to the attorney-general of the state. John P. Williams, another former county attorney, was on the railroad commission from 1889 to 1891. Ole P. B. Jacobson, former editor of the Ugeblad and still president of the Ugeblad Printing Company, served as a member of the board of grain appeal from August 1, 1911, to May 1, 1914. On the latter date he became, by appointment, a member of the railroad commission. In the fall of the same year he was elected as one of the three members of the commission. This office has a tenure of six years, with an annual salary of four thousand and five hundred dollars. Fergus Falls has furnished two district judges. L. L. Bax- ter, 1885-1911, and W. L. Parsons, since April 13, 1913. C. D. Wright and John W. Mason have both served as members of the board for the Fergus Falls state hospital for the insane. Haldor E. Boen, later editor of the Fergus Globe, was a Populist member of Congress from 1893 to 1895. Charles C. Houpt was United States district attorney from 1906 to 1914.
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CHAPTER VII.
LEGISLATIVE ACTS BEARING ON OTTER TAIL COUNTY.
The first act of the Legislature of Minnesota bearing on Otter Tail county was passed on March 18, 1858. Minnesota was still a territory, and it was not until later in the same year that it was admitted to the Union. From 1858 until 1891 there were both general and special acts of the Legis- lature, and during this period some very peculiar acts found their way through the mysterious mazes of the legislative halls. It seems queer to note that the Legislature saw fit to pass an act more than forty years ago making it unlawful for pigs to run at large in Scambler township, and this same act made no specific mention of any other pigs in any other county of the state. If Fergus Falls wanted to gravel any particular alley in the village it took a special act of the Legislature to get it done. Numerous other instances might be cited to show how ridiculous some of this special legislation appeared when it got on the statute books.
The state was burdened with this kind of legislation until 1891. The legislative act of April 15, 1891, proposed an amendment to section 33, article 4, of the Constitution, which was to provide for the abolishment of special legislation. This amendment was submitted to the qualified voters of the state on November 8, 1892, and adopted by a vote of 77,614 to 49,583. The amendment was declared in force when the governor issued a procla- mation on December 23, 1892, declaring that it had been ratified by the qualified electors of the state. Since that date there has been very little legislation bearing upon Otter Tail county except for highways. The fol- lowing summary gives both the special and general acts of the Legislature which have had to do one way or another with the history of Otter Tail county :
1858.
March 18 .- To organize the county. This act is the only one passed by the territorial Legislature touching the county.
1860.
March 10 .- To change the boundaries of the county. Owing to the fact that no election was held, the act did not become a law.
1861.
March 8 .- To define the boundaries of the county. Evidently no defi- nite action was taken as a result of the passage of this act.
1862.
March 6 .- This act established the boundaries of the county as set
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forth in the acts of March 10, 1860, and March 8, 1861. The act in its preamble states that the validity of the acts of 1860 and 1861 depended "upon proclamation by the governor of their adoption by a majority of the electors of the county." However, as the act goes on to state, "no certified statement of such votes has been filed in the office of the secretary of state," and since no proof existed that the county was organized, the Legislature felt it nec- essary to definitely set forth the boundaries of the county. It is to be noted that there seemed to have been a vote in 1860, although definite proof of the result was lacking. In the preamble to the act of 1862 "it is affirmed and understood that the act of 1860 was adopted by the people in the manner required." If such was the case there is no record of the vote and it was to legalize the boundaries of the county as set forth in the acts of 1860 and 1861 that the act of March 6, 1862, was passed.
1868.
March 16 .- To organize the county. This act specifically provided for the appointment of commissioners by the governor, and as a result the county started its career with the first meeting of the commissioners on September 12, 1868.
1870.
February 28 .- To establish the county seat at Tordenskjold.
March 5 .- To authorize townships and villages in Otter Tail county to issue bonds to aid railroads.
1871.
February 16 .- To establish the third Tuesday in November for holding district court in Otter Tail county.
February 16 .- To repeal the act making Tordenskjold the county seat and re-establishing it at Otter Tail City.
February 16 .- To authorize the county commissioners to issue bonds not to exceed $2,000 for the purpose of funding the floating debt of the county.
March 4 .- To establish a new county by the name of Holcomb, with Fergus Falls as the county seat.
1872.
February 28 .- To detach range 44 from Wilkin county and attach it to Otter Tail county.
February 28 .- To establish the county seat of Otter Tail county at Fergus Falls.
February 29 .- To grant a charter to Fergus Falls, incorporating it as a village.
February 29 .- To attach Wilkin county to Otter Tail county for judi- cial and recording purposes.
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1873.
March I .- To change the name of Jasper townshop to Parkers Prairie township.
March 4 .- To amend the charter of Fergus Falls.
March 6 .- To allow county to aid in the construction of railroads.
March 10 .- To detach certain townships on the eastern side of Otter Tail county and attach them to Wadena county.
1875.
February 3 .- A resolution asking Congress to survey the Red river from Perham to Fergus Falls, with a view of making it navigable.
February 24 .- An act to make unlawful for swine to run at large in "the town of Scambler, in Otter Tail county, and towns adjoining thereto."
February 24 .- An act authorizing the holding of district court in Otter Tail county on the second Tuesday of November annually.
March 5 .- An act to appropriate six hundred and twenty dollars to R. L. Frazee for expenses in contesting the seat of E. B. Chambers in the House of Representatives. Frazee was seated.
March 8 .- An act to appropriate $482.50 to E. B. Chambers for expenses in contesting the seat of R. L. Frazee.
March 8 .- To authorize the auditor of Otter Tail county to canvass the vote of the forty-first district for members of the state Legislature.
March 9 .- To authorize the commissioners of Otter Tail county to remit all costs, penalties and interests on taxes on residents of the county whose crops were destroyed by grasshoppers in 1874.
1876.
February 17 .- An act authorizing the holding of district court in Otter Tail county on the third Tuesday of November and third Tuesday of May in each year.
March 1 .- To authorize the register of deeds of Otter Tail county to transcribe all records in the register of deeds' office in Douglas county which pertained to Otter Tail county.
1877.
February 15 .- To prohibit the use of seine or trap to catch fish in Zumbro river.
February 15 .- To authorize county commissioners to issue six thou- sand dollars in bonds for purpose of erecting county buildings.
March 1 .- Marion township changed to Perham.
March 5 .- To amend act of 1875 relating to beasts roaming at large. (II)
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1878.
February 7 .- To change the name of the village of Hazel Dell to Parkdale.
March 12 .-- To grant swamp lands in Otter Tail county to aid in the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad.
1879.
February 14 .- To amend charter of Fergus Falls.
February 14 .- To legalize the action of the county commissioners in levying a one-mill tax for the purpose of building a court house.
February 14 .- To legalize all roads surveyed in Otter Tail county.
February 21 .- To authorize Otter Tail county to issue bonds to aid in construction of Minnesota Northern railroad.
February 28 .- To amend charter of Fergus Falls.
February 28 .- To authorize Fergus Falls to procure right of way and depot grounds for railroad by taxation or issue of bonds.
March 6 .- To locate road from Fergus Falls to Herman in Grant county. G. O. Dahl was the commissioner on behalf of Otter Tail county.
1881.
February 14 .- To incorporate the village of Perham.
March 3 .- Fergus Falls incorporated as a city.
November 22 .- To authorize county commissioners to allow the auditor clerk hire not to exceed fifteen hundred dollars.
1883.
February 24 .- To authorize the lowering of Dead lake in Otter Tail county.
March 6 .- Four separate acts passed providing for as many different bridges in Otter Tail county, carrying a total appropriation of three thou- sand five hundred dollars.
March 6 .- New Fergus Falls charter.
1885.
January 28 .- To authorize county commissioners to allow the county attorney an annual salary not to exceed two thousand dollars.
February 10 .- To amend act of 1878 relating to county commissioners. February 24 .- To authorize county commissioners to issue thirty thou- sand dollars in bonds for the construction of jail.
February 24 .- Gas and Mill Company of Fergus Falls confirmed in their right to construct, maintain and operate a gas plant.
February 28 .- To establish time of holding district court in Otter Tail county (first Monday of May and second Monday of November).
March 4 .- To amend Fergus Falls charter provided by act of March 6, 1883.
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February 5 .- To amend act of 1881 and to allow county commis- sions to draw pay for not more than fifty days in one year.
February 10 .- County treasurer to expend not more than twelve hun- dred dollars annually for clerk hire and expenses in visiting towns in county to collect personal property tax.
March 5 .- Term of district court of Otter Tail county, third Monday in May and second Monday in November.
March 9 .- To appropriate fifteen hundred dollars to build bridges and roads in Otter Tail county.
March 9 .- To appropriate five hundred dollars to aid Fergus Falls in grading Union avenue between Rose and Beach avenues.
1887.
March 3 .- To provide for adjourned terms of the district court of Otter Tail county to be held at village of Perham.
1889.
January 30 .- Fergus Falls charter amended so as to give the council power to appropriate money to develop the water power of Red river.
February 1 .- To set time for holding commissioners' meetings.
March 7 .- Perham to vote on school bonds.
March 15 .- Fergus Falls charter amended as regards assessing of the city.
March 15 .- To divide the first ward of Fergus Falls into two wards.
March 19 .- Prohibiting catching of any fish except sturgeon in any other manner than by hook and line.
i March 28 .- To set second Monday in May and second Monday in November for holding district court of Otter Tail county.
April 3 .- County poor relief eight dollars per month allowed indigent families.
April 15 .- School district No. 131 to issue bonds to fund floating indebtedness.
April 22 .- To regulate the running at large of domestic animals in Otter Tail county.
1891.
March II .- To allow the village of Perham to elect an assessor.
April 6 .- To establish salaries for all county officials of Otter Tail county.
April 9 .- To authorize the village of Elizabeth to separate from the township.
April 21 .- To appropriate five hundred dollars for bridge over Red river in Aurdal township.
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1897.
April 9 .- To appropriate eight hundred and fifty dollars for roads and bridges in Otter Tail county.
April 14 .- To allow Otter Tail county one senator and four repre- sentatives in the state Legislature.
1909.
April 23 .- To authorize establishment of tuberculosis sanatoria in the various counties of the state. The present sanatorium in Otter Tail county was built pursuant to this act.
1913.
April 23 .- To extend terms of all county officials to four years (applied to all counties in the state).
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CHAPTER VIII. THE TOWNSHIPS OF OTTER TAIL COUNTY, 1868-69.
The first township organized in Otter Tail county was Clitherall, which was established as an independent political entity by the county commis- sioners on October 24, 1868. The sixty-second and last township to be organized was Dead Lake, which did not come into existence until nearly thirty years after the first township was created ( March 24, 1897). In every case the civil townships have coincided in size with the congressional townships, although in many instances congressional townships have been temporarily added, or rather attached, to organized townships for civil and criminal jurisdiction. According to statute, congressional townships might be organized into civil townships when the territory in question had a min- imum of twenty-five qualified voters. Upon a petition of a majority of the twenty-five voters to the county commissioners that body was authorized to order an election for township officials, who, in turn, were to organize the township.
A study of the growth of Otter Tail county shows that townships were settled in groups. Half of the townships were created by 1875, Eastern, the last organized in 1875, being the thirty-second to be organized. At least one township was organized every year from 1868 to 1886 with the exception of two years, 1876 and 1885. As might be expected, the different nation- alities settled in the same community and for many years after the county was settled there were at least four different languages in as many different parts of the county, namely: Norwegian, Swedish, German and English- and the latter was not in the majority.
In the naming of so many townships the commissioners seemed to have experienced difficulty in getting a variety of names. The use of the same name for a lake, township and village is sometimes confusing, as in the case of the village of Otter Tail City, which was in a township, county, and near a river and lake of the same name. Such names as St. Olaf, Tordenskjold, Aurdal, Aastad, Nidaros, Norwegian Grove, Oscar, Trondhjem, Sverdrup and Amor bear ample witness to the Scandinavian population of the county. Long before woman's suffrage became the issue it is today there was a mania for naming townships in Otter Tail county after women. How many romances are behind such names as Elizabeth, Lida, Dora and Edna will probably never be known, but it is a safe conjecture that the fine hand of some woman is responsible for these feminine-named townships. The names of lakes have been given to several townships, as may be seen in Pine Lake,
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Star Lake, Rush Lake, Battle Lake, Eagle Lake, Leaf Lake and Dead Lake. The topography of some townships was evidently responsible for their names, and the townships of Leaf Mountain, Maplewood, Woodside, Oak Valley, Parkers Prairie, Dane Prairie and Norwegian Grove. The names of some townships would lead one to think that names were scarce, or at least that no one was able to get a name which was satisfactory-witness such names as Western, Eastern and Homestead. Many townships of the county were named after some sterling old settler, or, at least, a settler who was influential enough with the commissioners to induce them to name one after him. In some cases, if tradition is to be believed, ambitious settlers used undue influence in order to get townships named after them. A few county commissioners have succeeded in getting their names perpetuated by having them given to townships and still others tried to do so, but failed. The names of such old settlers as Ernest Buse, Steve Butler, James Compton, E. E. Corliss, George W. Dunn, Peter Erhard, E. A. Everts, Captain Inman, Robert Scambler and several others are well worthy of having their names recorded on the map of the county which they helped to settle. Major George W. Clitherall, register of the land office, and stationed at Otter Tail City for a time in the latter part of the fifties, left his name on a lake, township and village. The township of Maine was named by R. F. Adley, one of the first settlers, and a native of the state of Maine.
Another interesting feature of the naming of the townships of the county is the fact that so many of them changed their names. How many people of the county ever heard of the townships of Union, Oxford, Grant, Cuba, Arlington, Dovre Fjeld, St. Agnes, Liberty, Christiania, Jasper, Bloom- ing Grove, Norman or East Battle Lake, and yet all of these names have been applied to townships in Otter Tail county in the past. Many efforts have been made to change the names of townships at various times, but the com- missioners have usually frowned on making any changes.
The discussion of the townships of Otter Tail county as given in suc- ceeding chapters is necessarily brief. The organization of the townships is given in the records of the commissioners, but in no instance do the records give the names of the voters petitioning for the organization. The original petitions for the first ten years (1868-78) are tied up with all the other com- missioners' records in two large packages. Since 1878 the commissioners' records have been kept in filing cases and are easily accessible. In two or three townships the petitioning papers were not found, and in those instances the names of the early settlers were taken from the tax duplicates of the year the townships were organized. The churches, schools, banks, newspapers and lodges of the various townships, including the villages within them, are discussed in separate chapters. The townships in this and succeeding chap-
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ters (VIII-XV) are grouped in the order of their organization. The appended list has been carefully compiled from the original records and the town- ships are discussed as they appear below. Several townships had more than one name, but, as will be noticed, only the first name is given. The list follows:
TOWNSHIPS OF OTTER TRAIL COUNTY ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY
Organization, present name and first name were as follows :
1868, October 24-Clitherall.
1869, March 20-St. Olaf (Oxford until May 10, 1870) ; September 8, Tumuli (Union until May 10, 1870) ; September 8, Tordenskjold ( Blooming Grove until May 10, 1870) ; October 9, Aurdal.
1870, January 4-Parkers Prairie (Jasper until March 1, 1873) ; May 10, Dane Prairie; June 29, Fergus Falls; September 5, Eagle Lake; Septem- ber 5, Elizabeth; September 5, Otter Tail; September 5, Pelican; September 24, Erhards Grove; October 3, Buse.
1871, January 3-Rush Lake; March 4, Aastad; July 10, Hobart ( Rose Lake until September 5, 1871) ; August 8, Scambler; September 5, Maine; September 5, Nidraos.
1872, March 19-Perham ( Marion Lake until March 1, 1877) ; March 21, Effingham (Arlington until July 17, 1872).
1873, January 7-Norwegian Grove; January 7, Western; July 1, Deer Creek; July 1, Oscar (Christiania until September 4, 1873) ; July 7, Trondh- jem; September 4, Gorman ( Nashville until January 7, 1874).
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