USA > Minnesota > Ramsey County > St Paul > History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota > Part 34
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that hinders men in Kansas or Minnesota, to keep possession any longer than it may suit their interests or convenience so to do; neither can I see how a man's lands regularly purchased can be taken from him, because improvements and those of his neighbors have made it worth more than he paid for it. And as to the improve- ments on the claim of Charles R. Rice, to my own knowledge, they cost him over $3,000 prior to the sale."
"Again, Mr. Brown says: 'there appears a strong prejudice in the new territories in favor of origi- nal settlers and claimants.' This is true; and I am glad he made the discovery, for it is an im- portant fact, going to show that western men are possessed of a high sense of justice and honor, and will protect their neighbor's rights as readily as their own."
"Mr. Brown further says, that 'William R. Marshall, the principal purchaser, is a merchant and speculator.'
"Now, Mr. Marshall is simply a merchant, and his character for integrity will compare favorably with that of any man east or west. He is uni- versally respected, and for that reason poor men solicited him to go and bid off lands upon which they had settled, to save them from the expense of attending the sale. Not one foot of land was purchased for himself, but he attended the sale and bid off for the sole purpose of accommodat- ing the poor. And had Mr. Brown examined the records, with the same care he seems to have be- stowed upon advertisements in newspapers, and 'notices stuck upon trees,' or with the willing- ness he gave ear to the idle gossip of idle persons, he would have found that Mr. Marshall had, true to his trust, conyeyed to each individual settler, the lands he had purchased, nor did he even charge the settlers one farthing for the ser- vices he rendered them.
"Mr. Brown asserts that they all reside in St. Paul. If he means to restrict this expression to those he named, it is perhaps true, with the ex- ception of Dr. Biddle, but if he means to embrace in it all the purchasers at the land sale, it is equally of a piece with the balance of his report, as certainly not one-fifth of the purchasers of the land in question, do now, or did at the time of the sale, reside in St. Paul."
" Dr. Biddle built a house, plowed, sowed,
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PETITION FROM ST. ANTHONY CITY.
planted, reaped and resided upon the land he pur- chased. He resided on it for months prior to the sale, and continued to reside upon it, until the winter had set in, when he removed with his family to town, to remain until spring."
" I can not believe that this administration will use its power to deprive men of the money, labor and time they have expended, to say nothing of the hardships they have had to encounter in set- tling the great West ; neither am I willing to be- lieve that this administration will countenance the report of a special agent, who has evidently traveled outside the courtesies of life, for the pur- pose of injuring citizens of the country, either pe- cuniarily or in reputation."
The report of Mr. Brown was so diluted with fiction, that, with the aid of Mr. Rice, it proved its own antidote. A day or two after Mr. Rice sent his reply to the Secretary of the Interior, he called on that gentleman, who asked what he wanted ; to which Mr. Rice replied : " I want the patents on those lands issued at once, and it is going to be done. I do not say this to you as Secretary of the Interior, but I say it to you as a citizen and a gentleman .?? The patents were issued.
There is no doubt that the prompt and decisive action of Mr. Rice saved those lands to the pur- chasers, and secured the lands to the original set- tlers of Minneapolis as well. Had speculators been allowed to bid against the first settlers and actual occupants of the land, it would not only have involved great hardship on the latter, but would have seriously retarded the growth of the two cities.
In 1855, the city of St. Anthony received its first city charter, and included the territory which had been known as St. Anthony City, which led to the presentation of the following petition to the legislature then in session:
"'To the Honorable Council and House of Repre- sentatives of the Territory of Minnesota:
"Whereas, your honorable body, by a special act, has dignified the unassuming village of St. Anthony into the magnitude and importance of a city, and have therein incorporated a tract of land, comprising 200 acres, which was surveyed and laid off into a town in 1848, recorded in 1849, and known the world over as St. Anthony City, par excellence.
"And whereas, said St. Anthony City proper, being near the " head of navigation," being situ- ated on higher and on better ground, being nearer heaven, and further removed from sin than the village of St. Anthony, which has assumed its title, being also in another school district and in another road district, and its inhabitants being entirely able (in their own opinion) to govern their own affairs, we do, therefore, respectfully represent:
"That the annexation and taxation, without our consent and representation, is contrary to the fundamental principles of our republican govern- ment. It was this, gentlemen, which raised the muss commonly known as the American revolu- tion, commencing with the preparation of a strong decoction of tea prepared with salt water instead of fresh, and ending with the fall of Yorktown and the evacuation of the Britishers from our free and virgin soil. We, in short, declare it to be unconstitutional, unjust, and oppressive in the extreme.
"And we do further represent that we, your petitioners, are perfectly happy as we are, and able to take care of ourselves to our own satisfac- tion, and that we have no desire and are not in the least ambitious to be a part or parcel of the city of St. Anthony, but wish to remain alone in our glory, and to be known distinctly as St. An- thony City.
"We, your petitioners, do therefore most humbly pray your honorable body to set off and apart from the recently incorporated city of St. Anthony, so much of section 25 thereof as lies east of the Mississippi river, comprising 200 acres, and known as St. Anthony City.
And your petitioners will ever pray, as in duty bound, so long as pen and ink shall last."
The petition was signed by Wm. Cheever, with twelve others, and the following year the legisla- ture granted their request.
In the same year (1855), a bill passed both branches of the legislature, removing the county seat from St. Paul to St. Anthony, but before it received the signature of the president of the council a friend of St. Paul pocketed the bill and thus prevented its becoming a law.
St. Anthony and Minneapolis at this time were at swords points and extremely jealous of each other, and in 1856, more as a joke than in serious_
200
HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
ness, St. Anthony was attached to Hennepin county. The transfer left two officers of Ramsey county beyond the new limits: Chas, F. Stimson, treasurer, and J. P. Wilson, commissioner.
From time to time, largely for speculative rea- sons, the area of Ramsey county has been re- duced until from a large county in the territory , it has become the smallest county in the state, and now contains about one hundred and sixty- nine square miles, being less than one third the area of Hennepin.
In 1857, the counties of Anoka, Aitkin, Isanti and Manomin, were created from territory taken from Ramsey county. The history of Manomin county, now extinct, is a little remarkable. It was six miles in length and lay between the township of Mounds View on the east and the Mississippi on the west, and contained about eighteen square miles. Hon. S. M. Fridley was the principal pro- prietor, who, with his retainers, held all the coun- ty offices. For judicial purposes it was attached to St. Louis county. When it is remembered that we were not then connected with Duluth by rail and that the entire country from Manomin to Duluth was an almost unbroken wilderness, it will be seen that it was next to impossible to get a civil process served on a resident of Manomin county.
During the year 1857, Ramsey county jail was completed.
Stanislaus Bilanski, before referred to, died in 1859, under circumstances that awakened sus- picion of foul play. His wife was arrested, tried, convicted of the crime of murder, sentenced to be hung, and the governor named March 23d, 1860, as the day. Prior to the time named, the legislature convened, and, Governor Ramsey hav- ing refused to pardon her, a bill passed both branches of the legislature, which practically abolished capital punishment, but it was vetoed by the governor, and an attempt to pass the bill over the veto signally failed.
Mrs. Bilanski escaped from jail and spent nearly a week with a paramour, but was finally re-arrested between Lake Como and St. Anthony, returned to her old quarters, and on the day ap- pointed was publicly executed on the spot where the new court-house now stands. This is be- Jieved to have been the first and only execution
of a woman in the territory or state of Minne- sota.
TAXES.
During the few years immediately preceding the panic of 1857, when speculation in real estate was at its height, people wanted their property rated high for the purposes of taxation, so as to give a colorable basis for the inflated prices at which it was held. When the bubble burst, the payment of taxes was quite generally neglected, except by the middle or poorer classes, and in many cases the latter could not pay.
In order to collect these taxes and afford some relief to the overburdened taxpayers, the county authorities allowed a liberal discount to those paying within a certain specified time, which ac- tion produced good results. Later on, the state itself had made a larger abatement, its treasury being empty, and the amount of taxes due being very considerable. Ramsey county, by means of the taxes collected, owing to the discount allowed, was enabled to pay the state tax, a proceeding which saved the state authorities much embar- rassment. Exception was afterwards taken to the legality of the action of the county authori- ties, and a bill was introduced into the house re- quiring Ramsey county to pay into the hands of the state authorities, the discount allowed for the prompt payment of taxes. The following extracts from a letter addressed by Robert A. Smith, ex- county treasurer, to the Ramsey county delegation in the state legislature, not only state the facts of the case clearly, but illustrate fully the wisdom of the step taken by the county authorities.
"In 1858, the board of commissioners of Ram- sey county, purchased state orders, and paid into the state treasury the full amount of the state tax of 1857 and prior years, and at that time there was a large amount of delinquent taxes for those years. In 1862 the legislature enacted a law giving the state auditor and county commis- sioners the power to abate a portion or all of the taxes of 1861, and prior years. The result was that the taxes of 1859 and prior years, were abated in no instance less than fifty per cent., and in many cases seventy-five per cent., and the taxes of 1860 and 1861, thirty-three per cent. St. Anthony and a large portion of Anoka county, was set off from Ramsey county in 1856, with
201
WEST ST. PAUL ANNEXED.
quite a large amount of taxes due Ramsey county, and notwithstanding Ramsey county had paid up the state in full, all these delinquencies, the state auditor abated every dollar of them, without even consulting the authorities of Ramsey county. The state auditor is clamoring constantly for this ten per cent. discount allowed by the commis- sioners of Ramsey connty, at a time of great financial distress, to encourage the payment of taxes, when the very fact that they did so, re- sulted in the payment to the state of thousands of dollars above this discount, that otherwise would not have been received. If this discount had not been made, the result would have been a small amount of taxes collected, and the people would have waited until the legislative act of 1862, and had the same advantages as Hennepin and other large counties of the state, of an abate- ment of sixty or seventy per cent. on a large de- linquent list.
"The necessity of this action of our commis- sioners was fully appreciated by at least one of the state officers at the time. Mr. Scheffer, then state treasurer, has often said that he did not know what he would have done to pay off the legislative expenses if it had not been for ad- vances made by Ramsey county, during the ses- sion of the legislature, and while the state auditor may have thought the action of the Ramsey county officers not technically legal, yet he over- looked their liberal construction of the tax laws, and drew his warrants on the county treasurer for the state tax, less the discount. "To illus- trate further the idea, I wish you to understand; assume the state tax of 1858 to have been $60,000, by the discount of ten per cent., if paid before January 1st, 1859, $30,000, or one-half of the whole tax was collected. The state loss would have been $3,000. If no discount had been made less than one-third of the $30,000 would have been collected, say $10,000, leaving $20,000 de- linquent. Of this amount very little would have been collected until the act of the legislature of 1862, authorizing abatement, and the $20,000 de- linquent would have been abated by the commis- sioners sixty per cent. at least, so that the state would have lost $12,000 under her own enact- ments, instead of $3,000, by the wise action of the Ramsey county authorities."
The total abatement of taxes amounted, from
first to last, to the sum of nearly $2,000,000. This board of abatement still exists, though with somewhat modified powers. Its chief function, however, is the equalization of taxes, and it is a fact that of late years all taxes have been paid with commendable progress.
A point has now been reached where the his- tory of Ramsey county as a whole can hardly be carried farther without repetition, the events of later days being more properly treated in those pages devoted to the different towns comprising the county, or in the chapters pertaining to St. Paul.
Reference, however should be made to the fact that in 1874, West St. Paul, until then a part of Dakota county became a part of Ramsey county, the annexation having been voted upon by the inhabitants of both counties. By this, about two thousand eight hundred acres were added to the area of the county of Ramsey. This annexed territory was a part of that known as the Louisi- ana purchase, ceded in 1803, by Napoleon in con- sideration of $15,000,000 paid by the government of the United States.
The bridge across the Mississippi opposite Fort Snelling was constructed in 1880, which was ef- fected at a cost of, including approaches, $133,- 507.37, of which sum $65,000 was contributed by the general government.
The changes wrought by the energy of man, in such a short period of time, have been truly wonderful, and possible probably in no other country than this. Swiftly and surely, but not always peacefully, the Indian has faded from sight, and his place has been taken by a restless, pushing, industrious people, whose labors have created wealth and turned the wild grandeur of early days into a smiling paradise, a land of plenty and happiness, so that the acres over which so recently the savage wandered now furnish homes for the people of all nations. Great as has been the progress made in the past generation the next has changes in store of larger import, of wider growth. Climate and other considerations are all favorable, and its destiny is being shaped by men of vigorous understanding. In view, therefore, of the achievements of the past, the noble superstructure now being raised upon such a solid foundation may safely be expected to at-
202
HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
tain to such proportions of strength and grandeur as imagination alone can conceive.
This favored section, though an infant in years, is a giant in strength, and the elements of its greatest possibilities, manufactures, commerce and its railroad system are such as necessarily must make it the seat of an empire of wide dominion and broadening civilization; the central point in a magnificent future, with an influence radiating into territory as yet even unsettled and unimproved.
MEMBERS OF THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
First legislature, September 3d to November 1st, 1849. William H. Forbes, James McC. Boal, council. Benj. W. Brunson, Henry Jack- son, J. J. Dewey, P. K. Johnson, house.
Second legislature, January 1st to March 31st, 1851. William H. Forbes, James McC. Boal. council. Benj. W. Brunson, J. C. Ramsey, Ed- mund Rice, H. L. Tilden, house.
Third legislature, January 7th to March 6th, 1852. William H. Forbes, George W. Farring- ton, (president) council. Charles S. Cave, W. P. Murray, Sam. J. Findley, Jeremiah W.Selby, J. E. Fullerton, house.
Fourth legislature, January 5th to March 5th, 1853. George W. Farrington, William H. Forbes, council. W. P. Murray, B. W. Lott, J. C. Ram- sey, L. M. Oliver, William Noot, house.
Fifth legislature, January 4th to March 4th, 1854. W. P. Murray, Isaac Van Etten, council. William Noot, W. A. Davis, Louis Bartlett, J. II. Day, Levi Sloan, house.
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Sixtlı legislature, January 3d to March 3d, 1855. Isaac Van Etten, W. P. Murray, (president) council. W. A. Davis, B. F. Brawley, Charles S. Cave, Reuben Haus, Joseph Le May, house.
Seventh legislature, January 2d to March 1st, 1856. John B. Brisbin, (president) council. W. II. Nobles, B. W. Lott, F. Knauft, Ross Wilkin- son, Reuben Haus, house.
Eighth legislature, January 7th to March 7th, 1857. John B. Brisbin, (president) council. Wil- liam Branch, A. T. Chamblin, W. P. Murray, William Costello, J. C. Ramsey, house.
MEMBERS OF THE DEMOCRATIC WING.
George L. Becker, Moses Sherburne, D. A. J. Baker, Lafayette Emmett, W. P. Murray, W. A. Gorman, W. H. Taylor, John S. Prince, Patrick
Nash, W. B. McGrorty, Panl Faber, Michael E. Ames. There were no members of the Repub- lican wing from the St. Paul district.
STATE ORGANIZATION.
First legislature, assembled December 2d, 1857. On March 25th, 1858, took a recess until June 2d; finally adjourned August 12th. Isaac Van Etten, Charles S. Cave, senate. James Starkey, Charles Rauch, G. L. Otis, W. B. McGrorty, William Davern, J. W. Crosby, house.
No session was held during the winter of 1858-9, mainly owing to the previous protracted session. An election was held in October, 1858, and the following gentlemen elected to the house (none of whom were elected for the senate): John B. Brisbin, W. A. Gorman, E. D. Cobb, William Von Hamm, W. P. Murray and John S. Prince. As there was no session, they never served.
Second legislature, December 7th, 1859, to March 12th, 1860. J. II. Stewart, W. Sprigg Hall, C. N. Mackubin, senate. John B. San- born, Henry Acker, Oscar Stephenson, J. B. Olivier, George Mitsch, D. A. Robertson, house.
Third legislature, January 8th to March 8th, 1861. Senate: James Smith, Jr., First district; John B. Sanborn, Twenty-first district. House: Henry Acker, A. Wessell, First district; W. L. Banning, Twenty-first district.
Fourth legislature, January 7th to March 7th, 1862. Senate: James Smith, Jr., First district; J. R. Irvine, Twenty-first district. House: II. L. Carver, Philip Rohr, First district; Nicholas Gross, Twenty-first district.
Fifth legislature, January 6th to March 6th, 1863. Senate: James Smith, Jr., First district; J. R. Irvine, Twenty-first district. House: W. P. Murray, J. P. Kidder, First district; John B. Brisbin, Twenty-first district.
Sixth legislature. January 5th to March 4th, 1864. Senate: Edmund Rice, First district, John Nicols, Twenty-first district. House: J. P. Kid- der, R. H. Fitz, First district; A. R. Kiefer, Twenty-first district.
Seventh legislature, January 3d to March 3d, 1865. Senate: Edmund Rice, First district; John Nicols, Twenty-first district. House: C. D. Gilfillan, J. A. Peckham, First district; J. M. Gilman, Twenty-first district.
203
COUNTY OFFICIAL ROSTER.
Eighth legislature, January 2d to March 2d, 1866. Senate: W. P. Murray, First district; G. L. Otis, Twenty-first district. House: William Branch, Parker Paine, First district; Herman Trott, Twenty-first district.
Ninth legislature, January 8th, to March 8th, 1867. Senate: W. P. Murray. House: Edmund Rice, C. K. Davis and C. HI. Lienau.
Tenthi legislature, January 7th, to March 6th, 1868. Senate: George L. Becker. House: W. P. Murray, D. C. Jones, C. II. Lienau. Mr. Mur- ray although elected, did not take his seat.
Eleventh legislature, January 5th, to March 5th, 1869. Senate: George L. Becker. House: J. M. Gilman, J. J. Egan and Paul Faber.
Twelfth legislature, January 4th, to March 4tlı, 1870. Senate: George L. Becker. House: J. L. Merriam, (speaker) J. M. Gilman and Paul Faber.
Thirteenth legislature, January 8th, to March 3rd, 1871. Senate: George L. Becker. Ifouse: J. L. Merriam, (speaker) H. H. Sibley and Christopher Stahlman.
Fourteenth legislature, January 2d, to Marchi 1st, 1872. Senate: I. V. D. Ileard, 23d district; John Nicols, 24th district. House: John P .. Sanborn, Peter Berkey, 23d district; J. C. Bur- bank, Henry M. Smyth, Edmund Rice, 24th district.
Fifteenth legislature, January 7th, to March Ist, 1873. Senate: Edmund Rice, 23d district; John Nicols, 24th district. House: J. N. Rogers, HI. H. Miller, 23d district; George Benz, II. A. Castle, H. J. Brainard, 24th district.
Sixteenth legislature, January 6th to Marchi 6th, 1874. Senate: Edmund Rice, 23d district; E. F. Drake, 24th district. House: John X. Da- vidson, Henry Meyerding, 23d district; George Benz, T. M. Metcalf, Lorenzo Ifoyt, 24th dis- trict.
Seventeenth legislature, January 5th, to March 5tlı, 1875. Senate: W. P. Murray, 23d district; E. F. Drake, 24th district. Ifouse: William Crooks, HI. H. Miller, 23d district; George Benz, F. R. Delano, Lorenzo Hoyt, 24th district.
Eighteenth legislature, January 4th to March 3d, 1876. Senate: W. P. Murray, 23d district; James Smith, Jr., 24th district. House: William Crooks, John Lunkenheimer, 23d district; Fred.
Richter, C. D. Gilfillan, W. W. Webber, 24th district.
Nineteenth legislature, January 2d, to March 2d, 1877. Senate: C. A. Morton, 23d district; James Smith, Jr., 24th district. House: William Crooks, John Lunkenheimer, 23d district; J. M. Gilman, Edmund Rice, B. Magoffin, Jr., 24th district.
Twentieth legislature, January 8th, to March 8th, 1878. Senate: C. A. Morton, 23d district; C. D. Gilfillan, 24th district. House : J. II. Reaney, R. C. Wiley, 23d district ; W. H. Mead, Edmund Rice, H. J. Brainard, 24th district.
Twenty-first legislature, January 7, to March 7, 1879. Senate : J. II. Reaney, 23d district ; C. D. Gilfillan, 24th district. House : Jos. Oppen heim, R. C. Wiley, 23d district; W. HI. Mead, James Smith, Jr., Peter Bohland, 24th district.
An act was passed by the legislature during the session of 1878, changing the legislative ses- sions from annual to biennial, to take effect after the adjournment of the session of 1879. As a consequence, there was no session of the legisla- ture in 1880.
Twenty-second legislature, January 4, to March 4, 1881. Senate: William Crooks, 23d district ; C. D. Gilfillan, 24th district. House : John B. Sanborn, R. C. Wiley, 23d district ; C. W. Griggs, James Smith, Jr., Peter Bohland, 24th district.
LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS.
Auditors. (Until 1859 the services allotted to this office were performed by the register of deeds); Alexander Buchanan, T. M. Metcalf, W. II. Forbes, J. F. Hoyt, S. Lee Davis, A. J. Tay- lor, J. B. Olivier, S. Lee Davis, J. J. McCardy.
Register of Deeds. David Day, M. S. Wilkin- son, L. M. Oliver, Edward Heenan, Sherwood Hough, Charles Passavant, Jacob Mainzer, Theo- dore Sander, Alexander Johnson, Otto Dreher.
Sheriffs. C. P. V. Lull, George F. Brott, A. M. Fridley, A. W. Tullis, J. Y. Caldwell, A. W. Tullis, D. A. Robertson, John Grace, John C. Becht (died in office), James King, Frederick Richter.
Treasurers. James W. Simpson, A. L. Lar- penteur, S. II. Sergeant, Robert W.Cummings, N. E. Tyson, Allen Pierce, C. F. Stimson (from Jan- uary Ist to March 23, 1856, when by change of county boundaries he became a non-resident, con-
204
HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
sequently ineligible), Robert A. Smith, Calvin S. Uline, H. M. Rice.
Clerks of Court. J. K. Humphrey, A. J. Whit- ney, George W. Prescott, R. F. Housenworth, Albert Armstrong, A. R. Kiefer.
County Attorneys. Henry A. Lambert, W. D. Phillips, A. L. Williams, D. C. Cooley, I. V. D. Heard, H. J. Horn, S. M. Flint, Harvey Of- ficer, W. W. Erwin, C. D. O'Brien, E. G. Rogers, J. J. Egan.
Judges of Probate. Henry A. Lambert, Ira B. Kingsley, H. L. Welch, S. M. Tracy, Jesse M. Stone, Richard Fewer, A. C. Jones, John Penman, J. F. Iloyt, I. V. D. Heard, J. F. Hoyt, R. F. Crowell, E. C. Lambert, R. F. Crowell, Oscar Stephenson, H. R. Brill, Oscar Stephenson, Henry O'Gorman.
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