USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota and outline history of the state of Minnesota > Part 78
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cashier of the First National Rank at this place. His present wife was Miss Irene Colby, who was at one time principal of the Normal School at Trenton, New Jersey. Our subject has been au earnest worker in the schools, and President of the Board of Education.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS WHEATON, deceased, was born on the 1st of July, 1809, in Amenia, Dutch- ess county, New York. His parents moved to Pompey Hill, Onondaga county, when he was but six mouths old. He received his education at Pompey Academy, which was a leading institution of learning in that part of the country. At the age of twenty-five years he married Ellen, eldest daughter of Victory Birdseye, a prominent lawyer and public servant in western New York. After the lapse of a year and a half, Mr. Wheaton moved to Syracuse, Onondaga county. Early in his career he espoused the anti-slavery cause, and was asso- ciated familiarly with Gerrit Smith, Beriah Smith, William Lloyd Garrison, and others. He was also active in the temperance reform, and was for several years identified with the educational inter- ests of Syracuse. When he first went to the latter city he became a member of the Presbyterian church and was an earnest worker in it for many years, as superintendent of the Sunday school, leader of the choir, etc., but finally withdrew from the church on account of disagreement ou the slavery ques- tion. He, with others who sympathized with him, organized a First Congregational church, which he served earnestly in various capacities.
All these years he carried on successfully an ex- tensive business, but finally became much embar- assed. The truths of the New Church came to him when adversity hedged him in, and gave him much comfort. The loss of his wife, the compli- cations relative to a railroad through some of the Southern States for which he was heavily respon- sible, revolutionized bis affairs, and in 1860, through the influence of his old and honored friend, John W. North, he left his old home and sought a new one in the state of Minnesota. In 1861, he married Martha Wagner, daughter of the late Thomas Archibald, of Dundas, Minnesota, and settled in the town of Northfield, where he was a resident for nearly twenty-two years. His attention was first turned toward the milling in- terests, but of late years he was engaged in edit- ing "The Rice County Journal." His love for his
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country was always a strong passion with him, and has descended through the narrower circles of State, county, and town. His funeral ceremonies were held at the Congregational church of Fari- bault, on the 17th of March, 1882, and the banks
and many of the business houses were closed out of respect to the memory of the deceased.
C. H. Pierce was associated with him in the management of the"Rice County Journal, "and now the firm name is Wheaton & Pierce.
BRIDGEWATER.
CHAPTER LIV.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION - EARLY SETTLEMENT POLITICAL - EDUCATIONAL-DUNDAS VILLAGE- INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES -CHURCHES-GRADED SCHOOL-BIOGRAPHICAL.
This is one of the banner subdivisions of Rice county, being one of the river and railroad towns. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad enters on the eastern boundary of section two, and crossing in a southwesterly direction leaves through section thirty-one and enters Cannon City township. The Cannon River divides the town, winding its tortuous course almost parallel with the railroad, running in a northeasterly direction. The town is bounded on the north by Dakota county, on the south by Cannon City township, on the east by Northfield, and on the west by Forest and Webster. It embraces 40 sections, in all 25,600 acres, and takes in all of township 111, range 20, with the exception of the northeast cor- ner section, and also includes sections thirty-one to thirty-five inclusive, of township 112, same range. This makes it the second township in size in the county.
The township is well watered by numerous streams, among them Heath Creek, Spring Creek, and others of more or less importance. The Can- non River has been mentioned heretofore. Aside from these rivers and streams there are several small lakes nestling among the hills, among which are Macklewain, Spring, Alhers, and Hart. The surface is rather more broken than that of a ma- jority of the towns in the county, and is mostly timber land. Along the northern line and in the northern part the timber is interspersed with spots of prairie, which have been converted into the most valuable farming land in the county. In the southern part, and in fact in many parts of the
township, are interspersed pieces of prairie land. The prairie in the southern part is called Little Prairie and makes the richest farming land in the township, containing 600 or 700 acres. Portions of it was originally covered with hazel brush. Along the river the surface is usually broken and hilly, and there is found an abundance of limestone which is very fine for either lime or building pur- poses, but as you retreat from the stream the sur- face is more of a rolling nature. Springs are not uncommon in the town.
One peculiar physical feature is what is known as "Hogs Back," which is a narrow ridge, com- posed of sand and coarse gravel; it is about 20 to 40 feet high and 100 fect through at the base. This commences in section twenty-one, and extends in a southwesterly direction for a mile or more. The snpposition is, and it must, we presume, ever re- main a theory, that at some ancient date a flood of water piled up the mound and then receded, leav- it as an everlasting memento of its prowess. We will venture no theory in regard to it-it is there -- and an explanation of it we leave to the archa- eologist.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The auspicious epoch of the first arrival in this township dates back further than most of the sub- divisions of Rice county, and it may be said tliat from the first advent of the "early settler" until its fertile farms were all the homes of thrifty farmers, the tide of incomers was constant and irrepressible. Of course in this sketch it is not possible, nor is it the intention, to carry the settlement of the town- ship in detail up to the present day, but we have used our utmost endeavors to chronicle the inter- esting incidents of early settlement, and the most notable arrivals.
The first exploration of this township, with a
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view to securing homes, occurred in 1852, in the fall. Although this is disputed by a few who claim there is a mistake iu the date, we are led to be- lieve, from a personal interview with one of the first explorers, that the date is correct, the parties con- testing not having made their appearance until two or more years after the time referred to.
Albon and John Hoyt, two brothers, were the first to make their way to the town, and their first trip through was in the fall of 1852, although they did not take claims until some time Jater. They had been stopping on the Mississippi River for a short time, and having heard considerable about the Cannon River Valley, they decided to take their earthly possessions on their backs and see what the reports concerning a "land flowing with milk and honey" were based on. They started with the intention of going as far as Fari- bault, and return. Their first night was spent in camp on the Vermillion River, and the next night at Waterford, from there passing over the terri- tority of Bridgewater and reaching Faribault. Here they met Alexander Faribault, who told them that they had just passed over the finest country in the Territory of Minnesota, and they decided to look more closely on their return. They re- turned by the same route as they came, but failed to find claims that suited them. Mr. A. Hoyt says that "Although one upon the land at that time was 'monarch of all he surveyed,' it was a more difficult matter to select farms than would be imagined. The country was beautiful and im- pressive! I could gaze all about me, on the beauti- ful hills covered with a mass of green verdure swaying in the gentle breeze, that dipped silently down to the level of the many trickling streams, and say, here is the place of my choice; but, upon gazing to the right or left I saw another that lured me ou by its fascinating beauty. And I followed! The mania bad seized me and almost before I krew it I had reached my old stamping ground on the Mississippi." The brothers remained on the Mis- sissippi until the 10th of March, 1853, when they again started for the Cannon River valley, this time determined to stay. They brought with them a couple of barrels of flour, 200 pounds of sugar, axes, etc. A man by the name of Irish brought them in by team, and the greater portion of the distance they were obliged to cut their way through the timber. In due time they arrived at Faribault and pushed on to Cannon City where
they camped and began to look for claims in earnest. Albon Hoyt finally took a claim on sec- tion eleven, in Bridgewater; John, his brother, took a place west of him, adjoining the site of Dundas village, and Irish made up his mind to secure the townsite of Dundas, which he did.
John and Albou commenced at once the erection of a log cabin near where Slee's farm residence now is, the size of which was 12x14. They put up the sides of poplar logs and then Albon Hoyt and Irish left John on the ground with provisions, etc., to finish the cabin while they returned to the shores of the Mississippi to attend to their im- provements there. While they were gone, and before John had roofed the cabin, a snow storm came up, and John, in laying in the cold and wet became very sick with fever and ague; so bad, in- deed, that he became delirious and was in a very dangerous condition as he had no means of start- ing a fire. In this condition he was discovered by the Indians, and they, thinking him drunk began sporting with him, saying, "Minnewankon seetya do," (whisky bad very ), and the band finally went into camp near by. It did not take long, how- ever, for them to discover that he was not drunk, but very sick, and two Indians came to him one day saying, "Puck-a-chee Habo tee-pee," which meant "go to Faribault's home." After a time he was taken to Faribault by the Indians, and there staid at Bush's house until he recovered, the "medicine man" making him potions which worked a speedy cure.
In a short time a Mr. Clossen came through Faribault with five yoke of oxen, and he and John moved together, back to the Hoyt farms in Bridgewater. Here they finished the cabin be- gun by John and Albon, and broke ten acres on John's place, this being the first farrow turned in the township. In June, Clossen yoked his oxen and took Johu to the Mississippi, where Albon and Irish were, and here he remained until fully recovered. In the meantime Irish had taken the claim where Dundas now is, with the water power, and intended to get a friend from Ohio to go in partnership with him in the erection of a saw-mill.
In June, Albon Hoyt, Irish, and a man named Bliss, came to the farms to make improvements, and Albon planted two acres to potatoes, etc., by just raising the sod and putting his germ under- neath. After planting he did not touch or culti- vate them until harvest. When harvest time came
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the entire force left to attend to the crop on the Mississippi River, where John still remained re- cuperating his health.
In September, 1853, Albon and John both re- turned to Bridgewater, this time with the inten- tion of remaining, and found that during their short absence another pioneer had made his ar- rival. This was Mahlon Lockwood, who had ar- rived with his wife and several children, and lo- cated just south of Dundas near the Archibald farm; and, as he brought a cow and a yoke of oxen, he was a valuable acquisitiou to the meagre settlement. He had already put up a little board shanty, the material for which he had brought with him, but this, it is said, would not keep the sun out, so the entire party at once commenced work on, and soon finished, a substantial log house for the protection of the Lockwood family, and all began to make preparations for the winter, which they knew would be long and severe. Nor were they wrong, as the long, dreary, and bitterly cold months that followed proved, and some of the settlers say they have hauled rails for fuel when their faces were actually coated with a veil of ice and their finger frozen stiff.
The Indians were plenty in the neighborhood, and the timber abounded with all kinds of game; deer, elk, and bear were the main articles of food, and a good hunter in those days could always be a high liver. The settlers made many fast and useful friends among the Indians, all of them hav- ing learned their "lingo" were almost as muchi at home among them as though they were whites. They were not troublesome in regard to thieving, if treated well, and the following incident will serve to show the confidence felt in them. An old Indian came one day to Albon Hoyt's cabin and wanted to borrow his rifle, saying he conld not kill deer with his shotgun, and that if the "white man" would only allow him to take the rifle three weeks, he would return it at the end of that time in as good order as it was at the time of his getting it. Albon allowed him to take it, and the Indian disappeared. For three weeks nothing was seen of Indian or gun, but on the day that the three weeks expired, the Indian and rifle appeared at the door, with a handsome present of game that compensated him. Many incidents like this occurred, and the old settlers came to believe, in the words of Mr. Hoyt, that "if treated right they are considerable better than the average white."'
This carries the settlers through a hard winter, and brings them into the spring of 1854, with Albon and John Hoyt and the Lockwood family. Irish had gone to the Mississippi, intending to re- turn during the summer. Hopes ran high among them, for they were confident of a good crop, and all had succeeded in getting more or less land ready for seeding,in fact all the available land was sown until their seed was exhausted. A good crop was the result, although the acreage sown was comparatively very small.
In the meantime the settlement had commenced in various parts of the county. Northfield and vicinity had received a number of settlers, and the entire settlement north of Faribault was known as "Alexandria," after Jonathan Alexander, who was an early pioneer near Northfield. Other portions of this townhad also begun making evolutions toward civilization, as in the same year, (1854) we find that Edmund Larkins, Job Chester, Joseph Drake, and Daniel Bundy, all made their appearance and began opening farms in the eastern part of the town. This settlement, however, properly be- longed to the Northfield section, as they were di- vided from Dundas by the heavy timber ridge, and it was not until several years after the settle- ment hegan that a road was cut and graded through the timber strip.
C. C. Stetson, from Philadelphia, came in the month of July, 1854, on his way to California, but as he neared the Cannon Valley he heard so much of its beautiful scenery, its excellent farming land, and the unsurpassed advantages of the country, he determined to secure a farm, which he did on section twenty-four, where he still lives. He came in company with Morris B. Stiles, with a team they had bought in St. Paul. Stiles took a claim adjoining Stetson on section twenty-four, this sec- tion being on what was then known as the Indian trail, a north and south stage line from Fort Snel- ling to Faribault; and a short time after their arrival the Hastings stages passed through their farms; this being an east and west line. The for- mer of these received its name of "Indian Trail" from the number of Indians that were constantly passing over it to and from the agency at Fort Snelling, and after the agency was removed from there, this was the established treadway of the In- dians in visiting one another, until the Sioux out- break in 1862, since which time they have almost entirely disappeared from this as well as most of
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HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY.
the towns in the county. This road is now the county road through the eastern part of Bridge- water, having been straightened considerably.
Stetson and Stiles at once put up a log shanty and commenced keeping "batch," the former of the two earning a wide reputation as a "cookist," as the stage drivers called him. They were not troubled with Indians, except as beggars, and although they would not "steal for the sake of stealing," as is claimed by some, victuals and anything like liquor for medicinal purposes had to be carefully guarded or locked up.
C. C. Stetson kept several cows and made excel- lept butter which he used to treat his visitors with, and on one occasion left the house unlocked, with his milk pans arrayed in order about the pantry. His pans had been leaking and he had driven pine plugs into the holes to remedy it. During his absence somebody called at the house and pulled out all the plugs, and upon his return he found his floor bathed in milk and he was so much butter behind. Mr. Stetson also started a blacksmith shop soon after he got here, which was the first shop in this part of the country, and did a good business shoeing horses on the stage lines. The shop is still in full blast at Mr. Stetson's farm on section twenty-four.
Morris Stiles' place finally went into the hands of Mr. P. Oleson, an early settler who still lives on the farm. The latter gentleman, in company with Captain John Hanson, came in 1854.
In June, 1854, the eastern part of the township received its first settlers in the persons of the Drake brothers, Charles B., J. R., and A. W. Daniel Bundy came about the same time, and all located in school district number two. They all put up log cabins in which they lived for a number of years.
Everything ran along very smoothly during the summer and in November, 1854, Mr. H. M. Matteson, a New Yorker, arrived with a livery from St. Paul, prospecting for a chance to settle and make a speculation. He was favorably impressed with the location, hut did not settle or take any land at the time, driving back to St. Paul and returning the following year; arriving in the spring of 1855, he jumped the claim that Mr. Irish had selected and paid him for improvements. This was the claim where Dundas is, including the water-power, and he then commenced laying plans for throwing a dam across the river and erecting
a saw-mill. His next move was to get out timber for a mill, but before it was fairly begun he sold his entire interest and 740 acres of land to the Archibalds, in June, 1857. Mr. Matteson, after selling his property here, removed to Faribault where he still lives and is a prominent man.
This year, 1855, yielded the most bountiful harvest to the pioneers of Bridgewater of any year before or since. Wheat yielded from 40 to 45 bushels per acre, and the average price received was $1.50 per bushel.
James Babb, of New Hampshire, had become one of the settlement in April, 1854, with his wife, and was located southwest of Dundas, adjoining the place now known as the Archibald farm. He afterwards, in company with another early pio- neer, commenced the erection of a saw-mill.
James Smith was another who came this year and remained for several years. He was after- wards Town Clerk for a number of years in Fari- bault, and was finally killed by Indians on his way to California.
In the spring of 1855, Jacob Emery made his appearance, and after looking about for a short time decided to locate on Little Prairie, south of Dundas, and he cut his way three miles through the heavy timber to get to the place that suited him. He finally reached it and was so well satisfied that he still remains on the farm, in sections twenty-one and twenty-eight.
Then the settlement commenced very rapidly and in June and July of that year one could look in any direction and see the white-winged prairie schooners. Many came and found temporary homes, who in the hard times that followed sold for little or nothing and left the country. Among those who came to stay were the Donaldson brothers, James, John, Isaac, and Robert, who all settled in the timber in the southern part of the town. Three of these, James, John, and Robert, are still in the township, and Isaac is now Regis- ter of Deeds of Rice county.
The Sheppards and Macklewains came and set- tled in the southern part, the latter naming the little lake in section thirty-two, but have since quietly folded their tents and departed.
J. S. and George Archibald arrived in June, 1855, and platted Dundas, besides building the mills. They are treated more fully elsewhere.
Others came and settled in early days, many of whom are noted under the head of "Biograph- ical."
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BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP.
EVENTS AND INCIDENTS.
The first religious services in the town were held in Edmund Larkins' house in 1855, by Rev. Mr. Cressey, of the Baptist faith. The same reverend gentleman also held services in J. R. Drake's pri- vate house to an audience of about thirty persons, in 1856.
The first death in Bridgewater occurred in the fall of 1854, in the departure of Jesse, a child of Edmund and Jane Larkins, who lived in the Stetson settlement. A son of these parents was among the first births, and occured in the spring of 1855, with not a physician, nor even a woman present to assist the mother. The child was chris- tened Bruce, and is now a young man residing in the township.
A. W. Drake deeded a cemetery ground to Northfield, and his father was the first to find his last resting place in it. Joseph Drake died in April, 1857, at the age of 63 years. Another early death was the demise of Mrs. Owen, in Dun- das, in 1855, early in the spring.
The earliest marriage, undoubtedly, in the township, was celebrated in 1855, when Miss Mary M. Drake and Daniel Bundy were united in the bonds of wedlock.
In 1856, by mutual consent, Miss Catherine Tucker was united to Mr. Smith Alexander.
In June, 1857, C. C. Stetson and Amelia Howe were married.
The first Post-office established in the town was known as the Fountain Grove Post-office, and was opened in the winter of 1855-56, in the northeast- ern part of the town. The office was removed to Northfield within one year.
Edmund Larkins was one of the arrivals in 1854, and he brought a number of head of young stock with him, settling in section twenty-four. One day in the spring of 1855, a number of emi- graut wagons passed his house while his stock was grazing in the hollow near C. C. Stetson's cabin, and when Larkins came to look for his cattle they were nowhere to be seen. He became frantic and rushed down to Stetson's, and withont stopping to explain or say a word took one of the horses, they being the only ones in the neighborhood, and started in hot pursuit of the white covered wagons, which had about three hours start of him. He rushed on, goading the horse almost to death, and finally, at night, overtook them, and found they had seen nothing of his cattle. He had been on
a wild goose chase from his home to near St. Paul, and camping out of doors that night, the follow- ing day made bis appearance at home with his arm over the horses withers, limping in a most singular and pitiful gait. Here he found his cat- tle quietly grazing within a few rods of where he had got the horse. To pay for his folly he carried a pillow to sit on for several weeks, and felt that another trip like that would necessitate buckling a strap around his waist to keep him from splitting in two, as it was said the ride made his legs an inch or so longer, but we will not vouch for the latter statement.
A terrible murder was committed in the town of Bridgewater on the 30th of June, 1867. The criminal was Alfred Hoyt; the victim being Josiah Stamford, who had a farm adjoining Hoyt's. There had been some trouble about the trespassing of the cattle, and the parties met in the woods and had some words, when Hoyt felled his neighbor to the ground by a blow from an axe and then cut off his head. He then went to the house and made a murderous assault upon Mrs. Stamford with the axe, but she being a muscular woman defended herself until her daughters and sons coming to the rescue, secured him by tying, and then, he an- nounced that he had killed the old man, and on repairing to the pot it was found to be too true. The man was at once placed in the hands of the officers of the law, and upon trial was judged in- sane and accordingly committed to the insane asylum.
In June, 1867, the papers had an article headed, "FEMALE MONSTER." The facts of the case were that Mathilda Kergin, living a mile and a half from Dundas, was brought before Justice Perkins on the 13th of June, 1867, charged with brutal punishment of a boy that lived in her family by the name of Franklin Pierce Adams, a lad of eleven years of age. The boy's mother was dead and he was bound out to the Kergins. He was horribly whipped with more than one hundred and fifty stripes, many of them cutting through the skin. It seems that he had gone some distance to do a certain piece of work, which detained him longer than this sweet-tempered female thought necessary, and she met him and knocked him down, and with a cruel switch thrashed him in an unmerciful manner, and what is most astonishing, two full-grown men sat there and let her do it, without remonstrance or interference. She was
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