USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota and outline history of the state of Minnesota > Part 86
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The first death in the township was John Parker who died in the fall of 1855. He was buried in solitude under an oak tree near the cabin where he lived in section ten, and now, the road having been changed, passes immediately over his grave.
ANTOINE MOSHER .- Although this personage was not, properly speaking, an early settler in Forest, he was a very early pioneer in Minnesota, and was undoubtedly among the first to explore, trap, and hunt through this region. As he sub- sequently settled in Forest, and was for a number of years identified with Rice county, he deserves more than a passing notice. Antoine Mosher came from Canada in 1829, to Wisconsin and Minnesota, when these now wealthy States were without even a name, and commenced to work for the Hudson Bay Fur Company for $20 per month and "found;" this was the contract, but Mosher said years after- ward that he went to one of the proprietors not long after commencing work, and told him that he had not received anything to eat, and that ac- cording to the contract the company had to "find" him. The proprietor took him in at a glance and said sarcastically, "If you get lost we'll guarantee to find you, but if you want any meat you bad better find it or starve."
After this he wandered about through the North- 31
west, hunting and trapping for a number of years, and was finally married to a Winnebago squaw at the wild spot where Hastings now is, and several children were the result of this union, all of whom disappeared except one son, Edward. The old man began to get rich, the squaw being a thrifty wife and a scheming money maker, and by making lucky hits he became owner of a portion of the town sites of Prescott, Minneapolis, and Red Wing, and was for years considered the richest man west of the Mississippi River, it being frankly stated by him that he did not know how much he was worth.
In 1862, Mosher's son, Edward, who had mar- ried a beautiful but extravagent half-breed, enlisted in Company F, of the-Seventh Minnesota Volun- teer Infantry, and went into the Indian war leav- ing his wife at home with his father. He was in active service all through the Indian war, after which he was sent south, and in the fall of 1864, returned home sick and in a short time died, leav- ing his wife iu the care of his father. The follow- ing year, 1865, the father's wife, the Winnebago woman, died, and he married the widow of his de- ceased son. In 1868, he came to Forest, and of all his enormous fortune which he had accumulated through the carefulness and thrift of his former wife, through the extravagance of his last wife only $600 remained. In a few years this and his farm had been squandered by the cruel woman, and his credit so low that he could not get tobacco. His little farm was finally taken on a mortgage and he moved to Lac Qui Parle where he died a few years since, his wife having ruined and de- serted him.
POLITICAL.
The town of Forest was not behind the neigh- horing towns in organizing and starting the local governmental wheels. The first meeting was held on that inevitable 11th of May, 1858, at the resi- dence of James Fitzimmo: s, now t' > Millersburg Hotel, and after organization the following officials were elected: Supervisors, Elias F. Taylor, Zebulon Sargent, and Charles Brand; Clerk, Alex- ander Smith; Assessor, Joseph L. Houck; Justices of the Peace, George Miller and John R. Barlett; Constables, Milo J. Sellon and John W. Sargent; Overseer of the Poor, John Jones. The clerk of this meeting was J. F. Donaldson, and S. A. Hen- derson, moderator. Three of the first officers are still residents of the township.
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HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY.
In 1881, a neat and substantial Town Hall was erected in Millersburg, which is used for town meetings, etc.
LESTER POST-OFFICE.
· This convenient office was established in 1871, at the instigation of J. W. Thompson, and is situated on the southwest quarter of section eight, in the northwestern part of the town. The office is very useful to the settlers in this vicinity and undoubtedly supplies the largest number of in- habitants of any country office in the county. J. W. Thompson was appointed first Postmaster, and still retains the office to the satisfaction of his con- stituents. The business of the office amounts to about $100 per annum. It is on mail route No. 26,148, extending from Northfield to Lester via Union Lake, once a week.
RELIGIOUS.
Forest township is well represented as to religious creeds, and the way the professors' zeal is exhibited is truly commendable. Service is scarcely ever held in the town withont a fair attendance, and there are a couple of very good churches which are the outgrowth of this interest. When the settlement of Germans first commenced there was a large majority of them who belonged to the Evangelical faith, but, strange to say, the feeling has insidiously changed, and to-day there is only one of this belief in the township.
METHODIST .- This denomination organized in Forest as early as 1857, when religious service was held by a pioneer minister from Faribault. They soon after erected a hewn log house of worship on the south shore of Circle Lake, in section twenty- seven. This log house was sold in 1877, up to which time they had service in it. Since then they have had no regular place of worship, hold- ing service in the various schoolhouses in the town- ship. The pulpit is now supplied irregularly by the minister of the Dundas charge.
BAPTIST .- Services were held among the Ger- mans of this society as early as 1858, in the school- house of district No. 66 by Rev. Angust Stegner, with an average attendance of forty during the first year. The denomination organized iu 1859, and had the most flourishing society of any simi- lar organization in the county. In 1866, they had an average attendance of eighty. A Sunday school was also organized, which has now a strong membership, there being about seventy-five pupils.
The pulpit of the church is supplied by the Rev- erends August Riechel and Carl Hirdler.
There is also an organization of Americans of the same faith, which was started in 1860. They hold service in the schoolhouse of district No. 19 and other parts of the town, now having a mem- bership of about thirty.
SWEDISH LUTHERAN .- The organization of a re- ligious sect by this name was effected in 1877, and in 1878 they erected a neat church, size 34x60 feet, at a cost of about $1,000, on section nine. The first service was held in the house of Christian Lundstrom by Rev. Mr. Anderson, of St. Paul, to an audience of about seven. Next came Rev. Mr. Vallien, and the present minister Rev. Mr. Ander- son succeeded him. They have seventy members, and an average attendance of 170. Services are held every third Sunday.
MILLERITES .- In 1856, George M. Miller, a brother of the man who, early in the forties, seriously agitated the Christian world by announc- ing that he had unraveled the intricacies of proph- ecy and made the startling discovery that the lit- eral world would come to an end in 1843, on the "tenth day of the seventh month," which would be in September, came to town and began to propogate these doctrines. Of course he preached as a "dying man to dying men," extending his circuit throughout the greater part of the State, proclaiming that he " preached without money and without price." Several of the brothers moved in and about Millersburg and succeeded in increasing their force to about ten, but here it remained for a time and finally began to droop. They have at last disappeared almost entirely, there not being at the present time more than two in the town.
-EDUCATIONAL.
The first move made in the towu towards educating the young, took place in the spring of 1857, in a log house near the residence of Zebulon Sargent, in what is now district No. 19, with six youngsters on the benches. This was the first dis- trict organized.
The schools in the town are all in good financial condition, and thriving with a good attendance of scholars. There are six frame and one brick schoolhouse, employing one teacher in each. The schools average about forty-five scholars, making about 315 in the town. The total value of school property is about $5,000. In 1881, the township
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FOREST TOWNSHIP.
received $1,065 from the school apportionment fund.
Below is given a brief sketch of the various districts, so far as the memories of old settlers can furnish.
DISTRICT No. 19 .- The first school in this edu- cational division was called to order by Elisha Houcks in the spring of 1857, with six scholars present, in the residence of Zebulon Sargent. The first school board was composed of Zebulon Sargent, John Bartlett, and Hugh Smith. A schoolhouse was erected soon after, and was the first school building in the township. The pres- ent building is located in the northern part of section twenty-six.
DISTRICT No. 20 .- This is the district embrac- ing the village of Millersburg and surrounding territory. The first school was taught by Ellen Cress, in a log house on section eleven, belonging to Mr. Eaton; this took place in 1857, and there were ten scholars in attendance. The first sch 1 officers were Messrs. Taylor, Dunham, and ·0. W. Miller. A schoolhouse was erected the year after organizing, 1858, which lasted for a number of years when they erected their present house in the western part of the village.
DISTRICT No. 29 .- This district embraces ter- ritory in the towns of both Forest and Bridge- water, and the first scoool was held in the latter town by Mrs. Crosby in the winter of '57, with an attendance of nine pupils. The district was organ- ized soon after, and in 1859, a log schoolhouse was put up at a cost of about $150, on section twenty-four. This served the purpose until 1870, when it was dispensed with and the present cosy frame house erected in the northeastern part of section twenty-five. There are now about thirty- five scholars who receive instruction here.
DISTRICT No. 56 .-- This subdivision effected an organization in 1864, and embraces the territory in the northeastern part of the town. The first officers were: N. H. Swain, Clerk; B. Burton, Treasurer, and H. M. Humphrey, Director. The district has a neat frame building in the northeast corner of section two. The present school board is made up of: N. H. Swain, Clerk; Alex. Walters, Treasurer; and Benedict Wyman, Director. The school has an attendance of about sixteen pupils.
DISTRICT No. 65 .- The organization of this district was effected in the early part of 1862, the first meeting being held in Alexander Smith's
house on the 2d of April in that year, electing the following as the first officers: Director, Ole Han- son; Treasurer, John Jones; Clerk, John K. Bart- lett. The first school commenced on the 27th of July, 1862, and was taught by Miss Georgiana Stevens, with twelve scholars registered, being held in a house rented for the purpose. In 1863, a house was erected at a cost of about $200, in the northern part of section thirty-four. 'The present officers are Ole Ellingson, Hans Hanson, and A. Frederickson; the school enrolls thirty-seven scholars at the present time.
DISTRICT No. 66 .- Was organized in March, 1857, J. W. Tohmpson being the main factor in its institution. The first meeting was held at the residence of James Craven, on the date above men- tioned, and Joseph Thompson was made 'Treasurer; J. W. Thompson, Clerk, and James Craven, Direc- tor. The clerk, J. W. Thompson, has held the office up to the present day, being the oldest con- tinnous school officer in the county. The first school was held in the summer of 1858, in J. W. Thompson's new frame house, by Miss Murdock, with twelve pupils in attendance; the following few years until 1861 school was held in various places, but in this year the inhabitants of the dis- trict agreed and "voted" that each should furnish their share of material and build a schoolhouse by subscription. They then all turned out and se- lected a site, and while the excitement was high, J. W. Thompson mounted a log and put it to them how much each would furnish. Promises were made recklessly, and when Mr. Thompson said to William Demann, "How much will you give ?" he received the reply, "I will give 200 feet of lumber." A brother of this liberal speaking gentleman, Angust, was next asked, and he yelled, "If he gives 200 I will give 500 feet!" Next came another brother, Christian Demann, who said, "If he gives 500 I will give 1000 feet!" Others chipped in and told what they would give, but as usual in such cases the matter dropped and nothing was got toward a schoolhouse, so the matter stood at this point until after the war terminated, in 1865, when the school clerk, J. W. Thompson, got back from the war a cripple. He made out papers for a meeting, while in bed, and the meeting thus called voted $150 to put up a log schoolhouse, 12x24 feet. This lasted until 1879, when it was sold at auction for $6.25, and the present neat brick house erected in section seventeen, size, 18x26 feet,
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HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY.
at a cost of $525, being the best house in the township for school purposes. The present school board is composed of J. W. Thompson, John Evert, and Frederick Prinzing.
DISTRICT No. 97 .- This district was formed by the County Commissioners in March, 1869, and the first meeting was held at the house of Robert N. Smith, on the 27th of March of that year, the district being substantially organized by the election of A. Gillander, director; Robert N. Smith, treasurer; and Simon Taylor, clerk. A schoolhonse was put up in 1870, at a cost of $385, the size of which is 20x26 feet and twelve foot posts, in the southeastern part of section twelve. Miss Belle Van Emmons was the first teacher, with ten scholars in attendance. The at- tendance is now fiftcen pupils. The present school board is A. Gillander, director; J. E. Crosby, treasurer; and Gilbert Fish, clerk.
DISTRICT No. 105 .- This is the youngest dis- trict in the township. It was set off and made a separate organization on the 7th of September, 1878, having formerly been connected with No. 66. The first board was made up of H. C. Oleson, director; August Riechel, treasurer; and J. W. Thompson, clerk. In 1879, the board voted an appropriation of $350 for a school building, 16x24 feet. This house was finished in May, 1880, at a cost af $416, and is the one now in use on the northeastern part of section seven. The first school taught in this district was in C. O. Persons' old log house, with fourteen scholars present, the teacher being Catherine Deming. The district paid Mr. Persons $15 for the rent of the shanty for three months, the owner's valuation of the same being $10. The present school officers are: Nels Larson, director; August Riechel, treasurer; and J. W. Thompson, clerk.
MILLERSBURG VILLAGE.
This is the only village in the town of Forest, and in it at one time laid all the hopes and aspira- tians, in this line, of the entire country surround- ing it; but this, like many other similar enter- prises shattered the fond hopes and anticipations, after a brief struggle, and was laid on the shelf as a thing of yore. It started with faire prospects, advantages of a good location, etc., but the non- arrival of a hoped for railway, with its accompa- nying benefits, coupled with the opposition of larger and surrounding towns, finally used the
struggling village up, and it was declared mori- bund.
The first settlement on the village site com- menced in 1855, when James Fitzimmons came and pre-empted 160 acres where the village is, and opened it as a farm. In the spring following he sold to George W. Miller, who also took some other land.
Mr. Miller soon afterward platted the village and recorded it as Millersburg. He also put up a mill and a hotel. Next a store was started by Albert Fillmore just out of the village limits. He made up his mind to start an establishment, and went to the cranberry marsh on sections six and seven and gathered a load of berries. These he marketed, and with the proceeds thereof started the first store in Millersburg. He ran this store one year and a half, when the calamity of bank- ruptcy overtook him, and he went to Minne- apolis, but has since died.
The next store was started by Thomas Adams in the fall of 1858, who opened a building opposite the hotel and put in a stock of groceries and gen- eral merchandise. He succeeded in withstanding the pressure for about one year, when the fate of the former merchant overtook him and he removed to Dundas.
In 1857, the first blacksmith shop was started ' hy Mr. Sellon in the same building that was af- terwards converted into Adams' store. It was operated as a "bellows and anvil" establishment for about one year, when Mr. Sellon retired. There have been a number of blacksmith shops started, and now there are three in operation: Elof John- son's, James Strange's, and Mr. Anderson's. The latter son of Vulcan still retains the good old fashioned way of shoeing horses in which each man that wants a horse shod must hold its foot up while the manipulator drives the nails.
Millersburg Hotel was originally started when the town was platted by the proprietor, George W. Miller, in 1857.
MILLERSBURG POST-OFFICE .- This Post-office was established in 1859, and was located in the village bearing the same name. Geo. W. Miller was the first appointed to handle the mail. He held the office for a number of years, and his son, George A. Miller, is the present Postmaster.
MANUFACTURING .- The only saw-mill ever oper- ated in the town of Forest was started at Millers- I_burg in 1856, by James Fitzimmons. It was run
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FOREST TOWNSHIP.
by steam with a fifteen horse-power engine, and was equipped with a perpendicular saw, the capacity being about 4,000 feet per day. The mill was run in this shape until 1862, when a cir- cular saw was substituted for the perpendicular, and the mill became the property of George W. Miller. He ran the mill and placed one run of feed stones in it, continuing uutil 1875, when it was sold to Mr. Robbins, and in 1880 moved to Montgomery, Le Sueur county, where the latter gentleman still resides. He also owns most of the Millersburg village property.
The village now contains the hotel, in which is kept the Post-office, and the blacksmith shops. Through some illegality in recording the village plat, or some non-concurrence with some techni- cal form, the lots and blocks of the village have reverted to, and for the last few years have been assessed as farm propeety.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
WILLIAM AN DYKE was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, was reared as a farmer and learned the blacksmith trade. In 1850, he removed to Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, where he engaged at his trade and farming. In 1854, he was married to Mary Jane Robinson, of Pennsylvania. They came to Minnesota the fol- lowing year and located a farm in Cannon City, and in 1864, removed to Forest in section twenty- six, and followed his trade and farming until 1877, since which time farming has been his occupation. Mr. and Mrs. An Dyke have had eight children, four of whom are living, four having died in in- fancy.
R. M. BARNETT was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1828, and at the age of two and a half years removed with his parents to Michigan; four years later to Wisconsin, and thence, in two years, to Linn county, Iowa, where they were the first settlers of the county. Our subject lived in Iowa seventeen years and there received his education bing reared as a farmer. Iu 1852, he married Miss Margaret Wolmering, the ceremony being performed in Dubuque. In 1855, he removed to Cannon City, Rice county, but pre-empted land in Goodhue connty and improved ten acres; six mouths later he came again to Cannon City, built the second frame house in the place and worked at blacksmithing. He remained there three years, then removed to Faribault and engaged at the same employment two years, at the end of which
time he came to Forest and bought his present farm of eighty acres, most of which is improved. He has three children; John W., twenty-nine years old; Francis B., twenty-six, and Ida May, twenty- four years old. The latter is married and lives in Douglas county. Mr. Barnett has been a mem- ber of the school board several times. His father died in Nebraska and his mother in Iowa.
J. W. BARNETT was born in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1853. He received a good education in the college of Faribault and graduated at Shay- lor's Commercial College in Michigan. In 1861, his parents came to Rice county and located on a farm. In 1873, J. W. made a trip through Michi- gau and the eastern States returning to this county and buying land in Forest township in 1875. His parents and one brother live in this township and a sister lives in Alexandria in this State.
JACOB BALLYET was born in Ohio in 1835, and reared on a farm, receiving a common school education. In 1854, he removed to Wisconsin and one year later came to Rice county and located in Forest on section fourteen, where he has since been engaged in farming. In 1861, he enlisted in the Third Minnesota Regiment; was taken prisoner at Murfreesborough, Tennessee, and paroled, then re- turned home and served three months under Gen. Sibley against the Indians. He again went south; was at the siege of Vicksburg and mustered out of service in 1864. Mr. Ballyet has been Town Treasurer ten years and one of the board of Super- visors one year.
JOHN W. BECKLEY was born in Clay county, Indiana, in 1849, and at the age of seven years, re- moved with his parents to Minnesota. The latter now live in Holden, Goodhue county. John re- ceived his education in this State and grew to man- hood on a farm. He taught school four years and worked at the mason trade. He was married in Holden in 1876, to Miss Adelia Engel, a native of Wisconsin, and the same year they came to Rice county, settling in this township, section twelve, where he has since been engaged in farming. He has eighty acres of land, all of which is well im- proved and supplied with good buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Beckley have three children; Elmer J., five years of age; Wesley B., three years old, and Alfred, one year old. They are members of the Methodist church.
S. W. CUSHMAN is a native of Connecticut, born in 1824, received an education in his native State
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HISTORY OF RICE COUNTY.
and studied medicine for a time. When twenty years of age he went to Massachusetts and clerked for two years in a hotel and one year in a dry goods store. He then went to buying and selling horses and studied for a veterinary surgeon which employment he followed till 1853, when he re- moved to Wisconsin and engaged in butchering one year, then went to Michigan and engaged in mercantile pursuits for the same length of time. In the fall of 1856, he came to Minnesota, located at Northfield and started a restaurant and was also dealing in horses for four years. He then re- moved to Iowa and engaged in buying and shipping stock; returning to this State, he settled in Waseca and followed the same employment. In 1873, he came to Millersburg, locating on section fourteen where he has since kept a hotel and car- ried on a farm. Mr. Cushman has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Mary Farr, a native of Vermont, whom he married in New Hamp- shire in 1846. They have one child, a son, now living in the northern part . the State. His pres- ent wife was formerly Miss Lucinda Gilbert, a native of Rochester, New York. They have one child, Charlie F., fifteen years of age.
AUGUST DEMANN was born in Germany and came to America in 1855. He located in this township in section twenty-one, where he has a farm of two hundred acres of improved land with a brick house, barns, etc. He enlisted in the army in 1864, and served eight months. Mr. Demann has a wife and nine children, all of whom are living at home.
JOHN L. DUTHAM was born in New Jersey in December, 1822, was educated and lived on a farm in his native State. In April, 1856, he came to Forest, and pre-empted land in section thirty. He helped to organize a colony to emigrate, in Brook- lyn, New York, and is the only one of the colony now living in Minnesota. In 1858, Mr. Dunham purchased a farm in section fifteen where he still resides. He was married in May, 1862, to Miss Sarah M. An Dyke, a native of Pennsylvania. She died at the age of fifty-one years; was a mem- ber of the Baptist church and is buried on his farm. Mr. Dunham has again married. He has held town offices every year since the organiza- tion of this township, and has always taken an ac- tive part in maintaining schools, sabbath schools, and churches.
GILBERT FISH was born in Ohio in 1838, and
when nine years of age removed with his parents to Wisconsin, where he received his education and was reared on a farm. He was married in 1860, to Miss Cornelia A. Dumond, a native of New York. In 1862, he enlisted in the Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving till the close of the war, a period of three years and three months; was taken prisoner twice, once at Shiloh on the 6th of April, 1862, and again at Atlanta, Georgia. He was mustered out at Milwaukee and soon removed to Rice county, locating in Forest in section twelve, where he has since been engaged in farming. Mr. Fish has been a member of the board of Supervisors two years, being Chairman one year and a member of the school board for several terms, being very active in all school matters. He has a family of five children; Elmer, twenty years of age; Addie seventeen; Bertha, fourteen; George twelve, and Ida, ten.
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