USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 28
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Dunn has parts of three large lakes within its limits, namely, Pelican, Lizzie and Franklin. Pelican river enters this township in section I from Becker county and flows through Little Pelican, Pelican and Lizzie lakes. The surface of the township is exceedingly rugged in many places and with its lakes and wooded hills makes one of the most picturesque townships in the county. No village Has ever been platted within its limits, although four summer resorts have been platted since 1902. These are all located on the shores of the lakes and are populated only in the summer season. Killarney Beach was platted by Martin Aalberg on October 29, 1902, for Minnie H. and M. C. Barry. It is located on the shores of Pelican lake in section 4.
Provan Beach is located on the shores of Pelican lake in sections 4 and 9. It was platted for Samuel J. Brown by Nathan Butler and recorded August 27, 1907. in the office of the register of deeds.
Midland Beach was platted by Emanuel Neilson for John K. and Agnes B. West. It is located in the northern part of the township in section 2. The plat was recorded July 23, 1908.
Sun Light Hills is located in the northern part of the township in sec- tion 3. It was platted by John Oss for Mike Murphy and recorded March 27, 1912.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, William Holbrook, John J. Kvare and W. B. McLeod; clerk, Anton Peterson; treas- urer, Leonard Johnson; assessor, H. O. Hagen; justice, Leonard Johnson; constable, Daniel Arickson.
MAPLEWOOD TOWNSHIP.
Prosper Lavalley and a number of other voters residing in township 135, range 42, (now known as Maplewood township) appeared before the
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county commissioners on July 26, 1880, with a petition properly signed by a majority of voters of said township, asking for its organization as a civil township under the name of St. Agnes. The board granted the request of the petitioners and designated the house of Lavalley, a prosperous citizen living in section 28, as a place for holding the first election on the 14th of the following month. About two years after St. Agnes was organized the residents of the township became dissatisfied with its name and as a result they appeared before the county commissioners with a petition, dated Feb- ruary 23, 1882, which contained the following names: W. H. Shadville, E. W. Seeper, C. J. Brockett, F. J. Young, B. G. Emery, Peder P. Ander- son, Christ Olson, Christ Fodgberg, Gustav Shay, A. Anderson, C. A. Yungner, A. Wagstrain, Peter Miller, John Olmsted, Johannes Nilson, A. Fodgberg, Peter Pederson, Hans Olsen, C. J. Herman, K. D. Thompson, Lars Rassmussen, P. E. Peterson, Peder Ellinson, Erik Erikson, P. S. John- son, John Leeper, Ben Grant, J. B. Bishop, Henry Shachirk, H. O. Wing. Ole H. Wing and Ole Olson. This petition, presented to the county com- missioners on May 2, 1882, asked that the name of township 135, range 42, be changed from St. Agnes to that of Forest Lake or Maplewood. The commissioners granted the request on the above mentioned date, and as there was another Forest Lake in the state, the name was changed to Maple- wood which it retains to the present day.
For some reason the citizens of the township were not satisfied with the name Maplewood and in the summer of 1890 presented a petition to the commissioners asking that it be called St. Johnsbury or St. Agnes. This petition, dated June 25, 1890, contained the following names. Prosper Lavalley, W. H. Lavalley, George Blanchard, B. G. Emery, Charles Emery. Christian Pedersen, Peter Pedersen, P. T. Anderson, Ole Oleson, Hulston Wing, Ole H. Wing, F. E. Dolphin. Joseph Raney, S. N. Lavalley, Mitchell Mitsel, Frederick Kulson, Peter Willer, Henry Shadville. Joseph Shadville. William Shadville and John Olmstead. The commissioners refused to grant their request and since that time no effort has been made to change the name of the township.
Maplewood township has a very rugged appearance. More than a score of lakes are to be found within its limits, the largest being Lida, Beers, Crystal, Twin, Long and Fremont. Although the surface of the township is decidedly broken, yet there is much excellent farming land. The town- ship lies wholly within the basin of Pelican river.
There has never been a village in the township. Before the introduction of the rural free delivery a postoffice was maintained at Arthur and later at Worden, the former being in section 12 and the latter in section 22. The present town hall is in the center of section 22. Churches are found in sec-
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tions 8, 15 and 27, and a cemetery is maintained in connection with each church.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, O. H. Nodsle, J. E. Hauger and Andrew Dennison; clerk, C. A. Mesna; treasurer, Iver Anderson; assessor, H. Halloway; justices, Richard Reedy and H. B. Emery ; constables, E. C. Southwick and Max Wait.
HOMESTEAD TOWNSHIP.
The citizens residing in the unorganized congressional townships now embraced within the civil townships of Homestead, Butler, Pine Lake and Corliss presented a petition to the county commissioners on July 26, 1880, asking for the organization of this territory, twelve miles square, into one civil township. The petition was rejected by the board on the ground that there was too much territory in the proposed township. Accordingly another petition was presented on the same day, having evidently been prepared with a view of providing for such contingency. This second petition called for the organization of a township comprehended within the present limits of Homestead township. Evidently the major portion of the inhabitants of the four congressional townships represented in the first petition lived in what is now known as Homestead township. This second petition was granted by the commissioners and the new township was given the name of Runyon at the request of the petitioners. The first election was held on the 14th of the following month at the house of Alfred Lane in section 28. The name of the township was later changed to Homestead by the order of the county commissioners. The second petition, July 26, 1880, contained the names of the following legal voters: G. D. Runyon, Levi Oberdrear, A. Harey, C. B. Fiske, W. B. Mitchell, G. T. Denison, A. O. Sherman, James Dunn, A. U. Taylor, N. E. McKee, Alfred Lane, Hans Christianson, David B. Williams, T. Murphy. S. G. Richmond, James Stolt, S. Runyon, I. Run- yon, F. Shlers, Thomas Raon, A. J. Davis, H. Davis, John Galliger, H. C. Aitkinson and P. Downing.
This is one of the few townships in the county without any lakes, although thirty years ago there were at least two lakes which appeared on the county map-one in section 9 and the other in section 18. Bluff creek arises in the eastern part of the township and flows in a southerly direction leaving the township in the center of section 35. The surface of the town- ship is generally level. although the northwestern part is quite rugged.
There has never been a platted village in the township and the nearest approach to a village is found in the north central part of section 4. As early as 1880 there was a blacksmith shop at this point and a general store. The postoffice was established here and named Davies in honor of the mer-
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chant who handled the mail. The postoffice was discontinued many years ago and the township is now served by the rural free delivery.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, G. A. John- son, Math Lohi and Arno Poser; clerk, Frank Maasch; treasurer, Herman Kampsula; assessor, Roy Verbeck; justices, Math Jakola and A. J. Davies ; constables, Vano Nervonen and Arthur Huldman.
CARLISLE TOWNSHIP.
The township of Carlisle (township 133, range 44) was organized Feb- ruary 24, 1881, by the commissioners upon receiving a petition of a majority of the legal voters of that congressional township. The first election of township officers was held at the house of Martin Hexam on the 14th of the following month. The petition asking for the organization of the town- ship carried the names of the following qualified electors of the proposed township: Jacob Kiewel, Martin Hexam, A. O. Grotte, Charles Spilman, R. Fautch, Ludwig Weber, Mathew Fautsch, Simon Giser, Oscar Porson, Oly Olson, Vincent Mynek, O. O. Dahlby, Hans C. Salhre, S. Johnson, Ole N. Nykus, Nils N. Nykus and Nils O. Garnor.
Carlisle township was the fifty-first township to be organized. This was due to the general swampiness of most of the land and the difficulty of draining it without going to great expense. Two large lakes and a number of smaller ones are found in the northern part of the township. The Pelican river meanders into the township along the eastern side, but passes out before it reaches the southern line of the township. The elevation of the town- ship above sea level ranges from one thousand feet in the southwestern part to thirteen hundred feet in the northeastern portion, with a general average of about twelve hundred feet.
Two railroad lines touch the township, the Great Northern cutting across the northeastern corner and the Northern Pacific running nearly the full length of the township on the south. The village of Carlisle is the only station on the former and French has a similar honor for the other railroad.
Carlisle was platted on section 2 by Robert Miller for Peter and Mar- cus Mauren and the plat recorded on December 20, 1879.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, William Zimmer, O. M. Hexum and J. J. Tomhave; clerk, C. Evjen; treasurer, Frank Fjestad; assessor, E. Fjestad; justice, E. Fjestad; constable, C. Evjen.
FOLDEN TOWNSHIP.
Folden township was organized by the county commissioners on Feb- ruary 24, 1881, in response to a petition signed by a majority of the legal voters of congressional township 132, range 38. The election of the first township officials took place at the house of Ole Larson on the 14th of the
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following month. The original petition of the voters asking for the organ- ization of the township is not on file with the records of the county commis- sioners. It has been ascertained, however, that the early settlers included John A. Aldrich, David Noonan, W. M. Conklin, Theodore Thompson, B. P. Johnson, Julius Langnus, Kleber B. Wilkinson, R. R. Wilkinson, Frank Wheeler, Emil Syverson, Martin Oleson, Frank J. Barta, Lars Anderson, Martin Peterson, Johann Larson, Arnt Munson, Hans Nelson, Roland Haagenson, Ole Larson, G. Gesler, Olaf Haagen, G. A. Kallack, G. N. Res- tad, Erik Larson, Albert Thomas and S. I. Hensing.
No village, no postoffice and not even a lake of respectable size is to be found within the limits of this township. When it was organized in 1881 nearly one-half of it was still owned by the railroads while both school sec- tions, 16 and 36, were still owned by the state. Gradually the railroads disposed of their holdings and today they own only a few hundred acres in the township.
The branch line of the Northern Pacific runs across the northwestern corner of the township through sections 5 and 6, but there is no station stop in the township. The town hall is in the southwestern corner of section 15.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, G. N. Rak- stad, Arnt Monson and Ellef Olson; clerk, A. N. Rakstad; treasurer, G. G. Watnaas: assessor, Gunder Gunderson; justices, Lauritz Larson and Otto Johnson; constables, Peter Albertson and Thorwald Nelson.
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CHAPTER XV. TOWNSHIPS OF OTTER TAIL COUNTY, 1882-97.
EDNA TOWNSHIP.
Edna township (township 136, range 40) was first organized under the name of Cuba. Gustave Grunert and other citizens of the proposed town- ship petitioned the commissioners on March 21, 1882, for the organization of a civil township to be known as Cuba. There were twenty-seven signers to the petition asking for the organization of Edna township, but since nearly all of them were written in German script-and poor script at that-it is impossible to give the complete list. Those which can be deciphered are as follow: Gustave Grunert, George A. Etzell, Gerhard Falk, Oren Cram, Eugene Cram, George W. Niebergall, Ernst Haarbs, P. A. Niebergall, Charles Altstadt, Albert Zitzan, John Karsnia, John Altstadt, Heinrich Zit- zan, Thomas Morris, Paulie Ragalla, Martin Gaike and Paul Ragalla. The names not given are in such poorly written German script that it is impos- sible to translate them.
The election of the first officials was held on the fourth of the following month at the residence of George W. Niebergall. However, the new town- ship rejoiced in the name of Cuba only a short time, as is evidenced by the following statement taken from the commissioners' record of May 2, 1882:
"In the matter of a statement from the state auditor that the name 'Cuba' for a new organized township not being admissable, the board of com- missioners adopted the following resolution: Resolved that the township 136, range 40, be changed from Cuba to that of Edna, it appearing from report of state auditor that the name Cuba has already been given to a town- ship in Becker county."
Edna was the forty-third township organized in this county. It is bounded on the north by Hobart, on the west by Dora, on the south by Dead Lake and on the east by Perham. This township has a large water acreage and some of the land is surrounded by the lakes in such a manner as to make it very difficult to reach without travelling a great distance. The land in section 20 is a good example of this township. To reach Dent, which is the trading center for this township, a distance of two miles as the crow flies, one has to travel seven miles, and go completely around the eastern part of Big McDonald lake. This reduces the value of the farm land in this section to a great extent. There are twenty-six lakes lying wholly within the ter- ritory of this township. Big and Little McDonald lakes are the largest
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bodies. The former has an area of nearly four sections, while the latter has an area of almost three sections. The lakes which are given names on the map are as follows: Moer Kedrick, Ceynowa, Paul Wolf, Pelowski, Rice, Pickeral, Boos, Glenard, Wendt, Heart and Mink. Dures lake cuts the north- eastern corner of this township and Lake Sybil, the northwestern corner.
The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway passes through the entire length of the county from north to south. This road experienced as much trouble when the survey was made in dodging the numerous lakes as the farmers do in getting to market. This road was built through this county in 1902, and has one station, Dent, in this township.
Dent.
The building of the Soo line through Otter Tail county was responsible for the platting of at least five towns on its right of way, and four of these were platted by the Minnesota Loan and Trust Company. Dent, located in section 34, was surveyed by Martin Aalberg on August 19, 1903
A census taken on the 19th day of July, 1904, shows a population of one hundred and sixty-nine residents in said territory. This induced the citizens to ask to be incorporated and they at once prepared a petition to that effect. The following legal voters signed the petition: Peter Schumacher, J. E. Besler, H. Winkler, William J. Hoffman, Peter Jonas, A. M. Heck, Fred Lubberman, Henry J. Krekerberg, A. J. Smith, Gust Hazelkauf, William Victor, William Schloesser, Thomas Coughlan, William Ruhoff, John HI. Krekelberg, A. M. Murphy, William Albright, J. A. Schmitz, Louis Honer, Wilhelm Hieth, Charles Stender, Frank Hassler, George F. Partridge, R. Harthen, D. J. Cooper, M. D., and R. R. Cooper.
The election on the question of incorporation was held on September 6, 1904, and resulted in twenty-nine votes in favor of the proposition and none against.
The growth of this village has been rather slow as shown by the pres- ent census which gives this village a population of approximately two hun- dred and fifty. Dent is located in the heart of the lake region and this makes it a very suitable location for resorts. In consequence the village is alive during the summer months, while in the winter business is not so flourishing. The Homestead elevator does a large business in buying and shipping grain. The banking interests of this community are carried on through the Farm- ers State Bank.
Dent is twenty-two miles northwest of Henning. It has a German Lutheran and an Evangelical church, a hotel, grain elevator, feed mill and creamery. Charles M. Perdue is the present postmaster.
The present village officers are as follows: President. G. Wagner;
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trustees, J. Ruebke, E. Borup and J. S. Elliott ; clerk, J. J. Harms; treasurer, E. J. Stoll; justices, C. Perdue and W. J. Brown; constable, Fred Talske. GIRARD TOWNSHIP.
Girard township was created by the county commissioners on March 21, 1882, in response to a petition signed by D. W. Wolcott and others, praying that township 133, range 39, be organized under the above name. The twenty-five legal voters of Girard township who signed the petition asking for the organization of the township were as follow: D. W. Wol- cott, J. C. Howard, R. Oaks, Sr., Jesse Burdick, A. W. Whiting, J. L. Whiting, A. Whiting, D. I. Newman, E. B. Anderson, R. B. Anderson, R. Oaks, Jr., James W. Anderson, W. W. Anderson, M. M. Anderson, J. L. Boyd, George W. Werner, Nels Werner, F. D. Ayers, Simon McAteer, Wallace Johnson, Thomas L. Mason and George Fort. This county was ushered in on the same day with Edna and Paddock township and in the order of organization it ranks fifty-fifth. It is bounded on the north by Otter Tail, on the west by Everts, on the south by Nidaros and on the east by Henning. This is truly a township of lakes. There are twelve lakes lying wholly or partly within this township which have an acreage of approxi- mately seven thousand acres, or almost one-third of the entire township. West Battle lake is the largest with East Battle lake a close second. Lakes Blanche, Mason, Tamarack, Emma, Ethel, Beauty Shore, Annie Battle, Park, Gourd and Hanson follow in the order of their size. The lakes of this town- ship present a more striking appearance than some of those in other sections of the county and especially some of those townships which can boast a greater number. This is due to their size and beautiful surroundings, which can hardly be excelled in. any other section. This township has never had a railroad within its limits and it is safe to predict that it never will. This is due, however, to the location of the lakes which almost surround the town- ship. The Wadena and Fergus Falls branch of the Northern Pacific should have been run through this township in order to give it the shortest line, but it was impossible to build a road around the lakes. The great extension of the lakes also makes it very hard to lay out roads and the farmers living within this township have to travel many unnecessary miles to get their products to market. In East Battle lake there are two islands of one hundred and seventy-five and sixty-two acres, respectively. The present township officers are as follow : Supervisors, George Huggett, Ray Kimber and R. W. Reed; clerk, W. T. Perry; treasurer,' Gust Hanson; assessor. Hjalmer Magenson ; justice, Lester Whiting; constable, F. Kimber. There are three platted towns in this township. They are all located on the shores of differ- ent lakes as follow :
Stuart Lake Park was platted by Martin Aalberg for A. L. Murdock
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and recorded in the office of the register of deeds, July 25, 1902. It is located on the shores of Stuart lake and West Battle lake in Girard township.
Beauty Shore is located in Girard township on the shore of Beauty Shore lake. It was platted by O. G. Molden for Peter and Christiana Han- sen (his wife) and recorded in the office of the register of deeds, January 4, 1911.
Woodland was platted by Martin Aalberg for H. O. and Anne Moe (his wife) and recorded in the office of the register of deeds August 1, 1913. It is located on the shore of West Battle lake in Girard township.
PADDOCK TOWNSHIP.
Paddock township (township 137, range 36) is located in the extreme northeastern part of the county and is upwards of seventy-five miles from the county seat. A petition, asking for organization and signed by L. A. Paddock and others representing a majority of the legal voters of the town- ship, was presented to the commissioners on March 21, 1882, and at once granted by the board. The first election was set for the 4th of the following month at the mill of Paddock in whose honor the township was named. The records state that this mill was located on section 32.
The petition asking for the organization of Paddock township carried thirty-seven signatures, as follow: William Everts, Harry F. Smith, H. G. Lewis, L. A. Pollock, A. A. Buckland, William Pratt, N. A. Britt, A. D. Reed, Joseph King. G. W. Smith, A. J. Phillips, Eli D. Robinson, David Traille, Silas Munn. J. Gallagher, J. A. Russell, S. C. Honeywell, John Johnson, David Perkins, R. W. Calwell, R. B. Shelp. Jones Smiley, Frank Rodgers, Charles Stan, Willis Scott, Albert S. Gore, Levi Storkwell, John Daly, J. B. Hankman, E. S. Johnson, David Shelp, D. J. Wilson and Charles Hodge.
There are only two lakes of any considerable size in Paddock township. one in sections 14 and 15 and the other in sections 19, 20, 30 and 29. Red Eye river runs through the township from west to east and flows through sections 18, 17, 21, 22, 23, 26 and 25. The surface of the township is gently rolling and practically all of it is capable of being cultivated.
Several years ago there were two thriving little trading centers in the township, Red Eye and Paddock. Red Eye was in the center of section 17 and at one time contained a store, saw-mill, hotel and cemetery, and a few houses. Today there is only a store. The name of the postoffice at this point was later known as Hill View, but it is now discontinued. Paddock boasted of more than half a dozen buildings thirty years ago, among them being a store, blacksmith shop, saw-mill and a few dwelling houses. A post- office was maintained at this place also for many years. At the present time
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the only store in the township is at Hill View, the former Red Eye, of sec- tion 17.
The first church was located in the northern part of section 20, but it has also disappeared. The only church in the township at the present time is found in the southeastern corner of section 26. The town hall is in the northeastern corner of section 14.
Olaf James was the last postmaster of Hillview. This little hamlet has a hotel called the Hillview Hotel with L. C. Anderson as manager. The Hillview Creamery is located at this point and is managed by Isaac Ander- son. There are at present some twenty-five inhabitants in this hamlet.
The present township officers are as follow: Supervisors, Leander Niska, George Warner and John Tontti; clerk, C. H. Hattlestad; treasurer, Matti Raatikka; assessor, Charles Beldoniemi; justices, M. O. Egg and E. D. Hall; constables, J. P. Nevola and T. J. Parrish.
PINE LAKE TOWNSHIP.
An effort was made on March 22, 1880, to organize a civil township out of the four congressional townships, then unorganized, now known as Pine Lake, Corliss, Homestead and Butler, but the commissioners refused to grant the request of the petitioners because they considered the proposed township too large. This petition was signed by the following qualified voters of the four congressional townships above mentioned: A. O. Sher- man, James U. Still, George D. Runyon, Levi Oberdiear, Charles B. Fiske, A. Herey. I. B. Greene, William Runyon, David B. William, Charles Run- yon, A. M. Taylor, Alfred Saure, James Galleger and Thomas Roon.
Pine Lake township was created by the county commissioners on Jan- uary 5, 1883, upon the representation of William Boedigheimer and twenty- three other legal voters of the township that the territory in question had a total of twenty-nine citizens of voting age, all but five of whom had signed the petition asking for the creation of the township. The new township was called Pine Lake at the request of the petitioners, who also asked in that petition that the first election be held at the house of Joseph Daiker on the 23rd of the same month. The petition asking for the organization of the township contained twenty-four of the twenty-nine legal voters of the county, to-wit: Matthew Geiseri, John Scheideaker, John Durum, Charlie H. Billings, Martin Schmit, Joseph Daiker. Bernard McManus, G. Kukouski, Charles Gelohin, Julius Glinn, Julius Hollstein, Henrick Harbicht, Hugh McManus, Anton Wagner, Joseph A. Boedigheimer, William Boedigheimer. Gustav Morgenroth, Simon Hauck, Aloys Hauck, John M. Reinhart, Albrecht Strehlow, Henrich Fruchting, Joseph L. Meyer and Albert Harr- mann.
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