USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 16
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 16
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that suited him. He finally reached it and settled on sections 21 and 28.
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 in 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. The Sheppards and Macklewains came and settled in the southern part, the latter naming the little lake in section 32. J. S. and George Archibald arrived in June, 1855, and platted Dundas, besides building the mills.
The first religious services in the town were held in Edmund Larkins' home in 1855, by Rev. Mr. Cressey, of the Baptist faith. The same gentleman also held services in D. B. Drake's private 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 occurred in the spring of 1855. The child was christened Bruce. A. W. Drake decded 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 sixty-three years. Another carly death was the demise of Mrs. Owen, in Dundas, in 1855, early in the spring. The earliest marriage, undoubtedly, in the township was celebrated in 1855, when Mary M. Drake and Daniel Bundy were united in the bonds of wedlock. In 1856 Catherine Tucker was united to Smith Alexander. In June, 1857, C. C. Stetson and Amelia Howe were married.
The first postoffice established in the town was known as the Fountain Grove postoffice, and was opened in the winter of 1855-56, in the northeastern 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 24.
A terrible murder was committed in the town of Bridgewater on June 30, 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 went to the house and made a mur- derous assault upon Mrs. Stamford with the axe, but she being
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a muscular woman, defended herself until her daughters and sons, coming to the rescue, secured him by tying, and then he announced that he had killed the father, and on repairing to the spot 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 insane and accordingly committed to the insane asylum.
The first town meeting of Bridgewater, for the purpose of organizing the township, was held on May 11, 1858, at the house of Fernando Thompson, in the village of Dundas. The meeting was called to order and C. C. Stetson was chosen chairman, pro tem., and Benjamin Lockerby, moderator. They next pro- ceeded to ballot for officers, which resulted as follows: Super visors, Benjamin Lockerby, chairman; Jacob Emery and J. A. Upham ; clerk, C. C. Stetson ; assessor, Royal Esterbrook; col- lector, Fernando Thompson ; overseer of the poor, James Gates : justices of the peace. George Barton, David Hatfield and W. B. Taylor receiving the same number of votes, none was declared elected ; constable. Charles B. Drake and Fernando Thompson were a tie. The whole number of votes cast at this election was fifty-nine.
During the war this township did its part, furnishing men as fast almost as they were called for, and at the time of the organization of the First Minnesota Regiment three men went into it from Archibald Brothers' store. A special town meeting was held in 1864, at which the sum of $1,500 was voted to pay a bounty to volunteers, and bonds were issued at 7 per cent to pay the same. The sum of $25 was paid to each man. The judges appointed were J. R. Drake, H. Drought and D. Hatfield. At a session some time afterward an additional appropriation of $900 was made, there being at that time four volunteers needed.
In the spring of 1856 it was decided to build a schoolhouse. and Charles Wheeler and others, during the night, quietly appro- priated timber from section 16. In the daytime they hanled it away, and put up their schoolhouse, the size of which was about 20×30 feet, upon the southeast corner of section 12.
The first school was called to order soon after by Martha Kelley, later Mrs. A. Dodge, of Northfield. School was con- tinned in this building two terms each year until 1880, when the old house was burned. This was the first schoolhouse erected in the county.
WHEELING TOWNSHIP.
Wheeling township is one of the eastern tier of Rice county towns and one of the most progressive. It is composed, as orig- inally surveyed, of thirty-six sections or square miles, in all 23,040 acres. The contiguous surroundings are Northfield on the
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north, Richland on the south, Cannon City township on the west, and Goodhue county on the east. Wheeling may be called one of the prairie towns of the county, as almost all of the area is made up of prairie land. The southern portion is quite level, but as one approaches the north the surface is more rolling, and the northwest corner is hilly. The soil is variable, the southern part being a rich, dark loam, while in the north, where the prairie is more rolling, the soil is of a lighter color, in some places having a clay mixture, and in others it is of a sandy character. The town is well suited for all kinds of agricultural pursuits, and also makes excellent grazing land, as the fine natural meadows are covered with all species of indigenous grasses.
There are no large streams and but few small ones in the town. Prairie creek touches the northwest quarter section as it passes on its way from Cannon City township to Northfield. A branch of Prairie Creek starts from a spring on section 21, pass- ing north to section 16, then northwest to section 17, thence north to section 8, where it takes an easterly course across sec- tion 9 to section 10; from there it runs in a northerly course through section 3 to the town of Northfield, where it joins Prairie creek. This stream passes through quite a deep ravine, and on the way is joined by several small rivulets. The head waters of this stream never fail, but in some places the bed is dry at times, and it is probable that there is a subterranean passage through which it passes in dry seasons. A stream called Little Cannon rises on section 13 and passes in an easternly direc- tion to Goodhue county, where it soon becomes quite a river and empties into Cannon river near the falls.
The actual settlement of this town commenced in June, 1854, when a party of Germans, who had stopped for a short time in Illinois, made their appearance, having come with ox teams and been four weeks on the road. The party consisted of Henry Bultmann and family, Jacob Blank and family, Louis Helberg, Friederich Hogrefe and John George Veeh. They arrived June 15, 1854.
Jacob Blank was the first to make a claim, and drove his stakes in sections 15 and 22, immediately commencing improve- ments. He had brought with him a pair of steers and two cows that he used in the yoke, and he at once put up a little hay shanty to live in. In this same little hay hut the first child born in the township first saw the light. In the fall Blank built a log house, into which he moved that winter. As he could not buy any lumber he had to manufacture it himself. With his axe he split stakes from oak with which to cover the roof, and for flooring he split the boards from basswood, making them about two inches thick. He cut small trees in the woods, which he
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converted into laths, nailing them inside and then plastering with clay. He lived in this house until 1864, when he built another log house. Mr. Blank improved his farm and lived there until October, 1878, when he sold out and retired to Faribault.
Mr. Veeh made the second claim on section 21. He was a widower with no family, and improved a small part of the land. In about three years he sold and made his home with his son- in-law, Jacob Blank, until his death, which occurred on February 22, 1873.
Louis Helberg was the third to select a home, which he did on section 21. He was a single man, but soon found a partner. They were the first couple married in the town. He improved the land and built a good set of buildings and made his home there until the time of his death which occurred in August, 1879.
Henry Bultmann was the fourth man to make a claim, which he did on section 17. He also built a hay shanty in which he lived a short time, then built a log house, using fence rails for the floor. He lived in that but a few years, then built a frame house. Mr. Hogrefe made the fifth claim, on sections 17 and 8. He was a single man, but married soon after coming here. He carried on his farm a few years, then engaged in the minis- try. In August these colonists were joined by another of their countrymen, named Henry C. Kolling, who also came from Illinois, where he had been living a few years. He selected land on section 21, then went back to Illinois and returned with his family, living the first winter in his brother-in-law's log house, Louis Helberg. In the spring of 1855 he built a log house. sawing the lumber with a whip-saw, and lived in that a few years; then built the neat frame house. Henry Grote, another German, came from Illinois about the same time and settled on section 17. About this time the settlement of this town began in earnest, and a number of Scandinavian families came from Wisconsin, where they had made a temporary stop when first coming from Norway. Those who remained here were Truls Earlandson, John Olson, Andrew Olson. Seaver Halgrimson and Elef Trulson. They performed the tedious journey with ox teams, bringing their families. They at once improvised log residences, with bark roofs, and split basswood logs for floors.
Earlandson took a claim in section 6. Trulson made a claim on section 3, where he opened a blacksmith shop : he remained there until 1872, when he sold out and moved to Kandiyohi county. John Olson planted himself in section 6. Andrew Olson claimed a place in section 5. In 1879 he went to Dakota. Hans Anderson came from Wisconsin, where he had been sojourning. and settled in section 7. His wife was burned to death by a kerosene accident. lle afterwards married Elling Johnson's
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widow and moved to Grant county. Seaver Halgrimson, an- other of the party of Norwegians, arrived in July of the same year, and after drifting about a short time anchored on section 5, where he remained steadfast until his death in 1870. His widow married again. Elling Johnson, of Norway nativity, came from Iowa and stationed himself on section 8.
In 1855 the arrivals were quite numerous, and most of them will be mentioned. Ever Bonde, of Norway, came here from Iowa, where he had been for a year, and settled on section 11, where he spent the remainder of his days. Ole Sherven, who first settled in Wisconsin, came to this place from Iowa, where he had lived five years, and secured a place in section 18. Adam Knopf, P. Wolf and Christian Erb, natives of Germany, came here from Cook county, Illinois. Wolf took his claim in section 14. He was killed by an accident in the timber February 21, 1857. Erb took his farm in section 23. He improved the land and built a house. In 1870 he sold out and moved to Cannon City. Knopf surrounded a claim in section 22 and another in section 23, which he improved. Truls Halgrimson came during this year and settled in section 3. Ole Olson Broden was an- other of the "fifty-fivers." Another settler about this time was Augustus Meyer with his family, who had been here but about two weeks, when one Sunday morning he shaved himself, lighted his pipe and proposed to go to the timber to look out a road on which he could haul some wood to the prairie, but he never returned. Several days were spent by the whole settlement in hunting for him without avail, and it was not until eighteen months afterward that his bones were found bleaching near his shoes, pipe and other articles, on section 16, on the land now owned by Henry Bultmann. The manner of his death is a pro- found mystery. Ole Benson made a claim in section 10. Jacob J. Bosshart came here from Iowa. John Hanson found a place that suited him in section four, where he died in a few years. Watts A. Pye, an Englishman, came from Illinois and took a place in section eighteen. Hugh McDurland, a native of Penn- sylvania, came from there and halted and went to work in sec- tion 30. The accessions to the town settlement in 1856 were valuable, and will be mentioned as far as remembered.
Ole Fingalson at first alighted in section 2, to which he devoted himself up to 1878, when he sold his place and moved to Becker county. Truls Fingalson was stationed for some years in section 2. Erick Erickson Rood was another comer this year. His place was in sections five and six. He removed to Kandiyohi county in 1866. Jacob Bosshardt purchased a farm in section 21, in 1855, and brought his family from Penn- sylvania in the fall of the same year. Syver Aslackson came up
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from Houston county, where he first lived a while after crossing the Mississippi; his place was in section 10. Hans O. Sten- bakken, a native of Norway, settled in section 12. Mark Boss- hart, of Switzerland, cultivated a farm in section 22, but in 1872 he was called hence. William Frederick came from Illinois and drifted into section 28. William Grote took a claim on sections 26 and 27. A house was put up and he lived there to the time of his death in 1871. Frederick Knaus built his castle in section 23. Osmund Osmundson came here from California, and at first built a timber residence in section 14, but later erected a brick house in section 11. John Thompson came here from Rock county, Wisconsin, and transplanted himself in section 2. In 1857, William Boltman, from Germany, came and found an un- occupied spot in section 25. Christian Deike, also a German, arrived in 1859, and his place is in section 32.
The first birth in the township occurred on October 2, 1854, in a little hay shanty put up for temporary shelter by the father. The parents were Jacob and Elizabeth Blank, the child being christened Caroline. Another carly birth was the bringing into existence of Halgrim, son of Seaver and Christine Halgrimson, January 20, 1855. In the fall of this year, Julia, daughter of Truls and Annie Earlandson, was born. The first marriage in the township, that there is any record of, took place November 5. 1855, the high contracting parties being Louis Helberg and Wilhelmina Meyer. The groom died in 1879. The next mar- riage was Friedrick Hogrefe to Dorothy Fischer, in December, 1855. Jacob Johnson and Cccelia Evanson were made one in the spring of 1856.
The first town meeting was in a schoolhouse in district No. 27, on May 11, 1858. The officers elected were: Supervisors, Watts A. Pyc, chairman, Christian Erb and Lewis Everson; clerk, Augustus Sickler ; assessor, Ole Sherven ; collector, Lewis Helberg; justices of the peace, Joseph Covert and Henry C. Kolling ; overseer of the poor. John Brown; constables, George Fogg and Jacob J. Bosshart. The government thus started has wended the even tenor of its way ever since.
The town hall was built in 1870. It is a frame building costing $600. Its location is on the northeast quarter of section 21. Before its completion meetings were held in private houses and in schoolhouses.
The town paid in bounties $7,200 and sent thirty-two men into the army.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
Richland township forms the southeast corner of Rice county and consists of its original thirty-six sections. Its soil
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well deserves the name that the township has been given. Good- hue county is its neighbor on the east, Dodge county touches its southeast corner, Steele county is on the south, the town of Walcott on the west and Wheeling on the north.
It is a prairie town, somewhat rolling, and remarkably well watered by small streams which coalesce in the interior of the town to form the north branch of the Zumbro river. It seems quite unnecessary to describe the course of these rivulets, except, perhaps, to say that they are but two or three miles apart at the widest point, and this part of the topography leaves nothing to be desired.
Section 12, through which the river leaves the town, was rather of a timber section, having more than all the rest of the township, and early received the name of Norwegian Grove, as the people of that nationality secured possession of it when first in the market. There were smaller groves on sections 16 and 31. The character of the soil is variable, being in places a loam with a sand mixture, and in other places what may be called black muck. It is everywhere deep and very productive.
The year 1854 was the first to witness the advent of the westward bound emigrant. Four sturdy Norwegians who had stopped a short time in Wisconsin came here in the spring of this year with ox teams. Their names were Halver Halverson, Erik Gunderson, Ole Larson and Osten Oleson. Gunderson staked out the first claim on the southeast quarter of section 12, near the Zumbro. He put up a hay shanty and made himself comfortable while getting up a log shelter. Halverson claimed three forties in section 11 and one in section 12. He started life in a tent which he improvised, using his wagon cover for the top. Olson also secured his acres in section 12, which he culti- vated until 1863, when his mortal remains were deposited be- neath the sod. Ole Larson went into section 10 and succeeded in getting up the first house in town, which he moved into in September, 1854. In 1856, he went to Winona on some busi- ness with the land office, and never returned. What became of him is still a mystery most profound. The conjecture at the time was that he was murdered.
In the fall of this year there was quite a little party came together and selected claims in section 30 and the vicinity. Among this number were F. W. Frink, J. Kinnison, Ozro Carter and Willard Carter, two brothers, whose claims fell in the town- ship of Walcott. These people returned to bring their families the following spring. Other comers were Edward and Sumner Beach, father and son; H. F. Smith, H. M. Beardsley, who located in that neighborhood.
In 1855 there was a party who came from Wisconsin, some
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of whom had stopped a while there to create homes for them- selves, and others came directly from the eastern states. Arriv- ing here they were so well pleased with the country that some of them at once proceeded to locate their claims in this town, and brief sketches of these man are here given.
J. M. Strunk was from Chautauqua county, New York; he selected a place in section 7 and lived in his wagon for a while, then in a bark shanty until he could get up his log cabin. Mr. Barlow settled in section 7, where he lived, making improve- ments, for several years. Edwin Wheeler found a place in sec- tion 18. William Close, a native of Ohio, came here from Indiana during the summer of 1855, and secured a foothold in section 31, where he remained until 1875, when his place was exchanged for city property and he removed to Faribault. F. Herrington, whose birthplace was Delaware, put in a personal appearance in the fall of this year and boarded with H. M. Beardsley through the winter. In the spring he bought a claim in section 29. During the year 1856 the accessions to the colony in this township were quite important. John Close, from the Buckeye state, came up here from lowa, where he had remained for a year. He came across the country with an ox team, a distance of more than 300 miles through a trackless and of course bridgeless country, and such a trip, it seems almost needless to add, required great good judgment as to the direction to take and as to how to compass the various difficulties being con- stantly met. He secured the northeast quarter of section 29.
During the first two or three years of the early settlement of the township there were quite a number of the sons of the Emerald Isle who secured homes here. John G. Miller, of Ger- many, came here in 1856, and worked a farm on the school sec- tion 36 for two years, and then traded some land he had acquired in lowa before coming here for a farm in section 29. Nathan S. Wheeler and his son, George H., came here from Illinois, being natives of the Empire state ; the father pre-empted a place in section 1 and the son staked out some land in section 13. In the fall they returned to spend the winter in Illinois. The young man came back in the spring. The old gentleman visited the town again in the summer of 1858, but returned to remain in Illinois. The year 1857 saw fresh arrivals, among them John A. Mather, and his position was in section 26. Ile improved that place for a while, then sold out and bought in section 27, where he lived and wrought until his earthly sojourn was ended in 1875. Frank Gowen, of Maine, started a farm in section 26. but after a time moved on to Nebraska. During this year sev- eral Massachusetts men arrived, among them Andrew and Enoch Story and Washington Tarr. Mr. Tarr took a claim in section
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3; Enoch Story took his slice from section 2, and in the fall they both returned to the old Bay state. Andrew Story bought the east half of the southeast quarter of section 2, but at that time remained but a few weeks. In 1861, however, he returned and permanently located on the claim first taken by Washington Tarr. Harvey Y. Scott, of New Jersey, came to Faribault in 1854, in the month of June, where he remained until 1860. In 1863 he came to Richland, having secured a place in section 4.
One of the carliest marriages was Henry M. Beardsley and Ariminta Newcomb, by Rev. B. F. Haviland, in 1857. Knud Finset was married to Bess Berget Halverson about the same time. January 2, 1857, Capt. John Hanson was united to Lena Halverson. They were married in Faribault. Earlier than any of the above was the union of E. L. Beach and Elizabeth Beard- sley in the year 1856. Columbia Adams, a girl of sixteen years of age, was struck by lightning late in June, 1855, and instantly killed. Mrs. Tew was injured by the same bolt, and never recovered from the shock, but passed away a few years after- wards.
John Wesley, son of John and Susan Close, was born on June 4, 1857. Richard, a son of Richard and Bridget Leonard, was born May 10, 1857. Halver Austin, son of Osten Olson, was born January 14, 1856.
Richland cemetery was laid out in 1873, and the mortal re- mains of Herbert Stickney were the first to be deposited there, early in December of that year. The ground was purchased of Alonzo Stickney, in section 30.
The Catholic cemetery was platted in 1874, on three acres of land donated by S. G. Nolan on section 16.
The first town meeting was on May 11, 1858, at the house of R. W. Mathews. John A. Mather was the moderator and Samuel Gowen was clerk. The officers to inaugurate the town govern- ment were: Supervisors, Lafayette Barlow, chairman, John A. Mather and E. S. Stafford; town clerk, F. Mathews; assessor. George W. Fox ; collector, William Close; justices of the peace, J. M. Strunk and Josiah H. Gale; constables, Charles Birge and James Stevens. Town affairs from that time to this have been in good hands, and everything in this line has run on in the even tenor of its way.
WALCOTT TOWNSHIP.
Walcott township is one of the southern tier of Rice county towns. Its contiguous surroundings are Richland on the cast, Cannon City and Faribault on the north, Warsaw on the west and Steele county on the south. The principal river is Straight
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river, which flows quite faithfully toward the north, a little west of the center. Mud creek and Rush ereck, with several other branches, join it in its course. The river leaves the town from section 4, and a quarter of a mile west it returns, moving directly south to turn west and again getting beyond the town limits on the line between sections 5 and 6, passing through Faribault.
On the east side is the noted East Prairie, with its black loam from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, with a blue clay subsoil, and laying so low that artificial drainage has to be resorted to. On the west side the soil is sandy, with a gravel subsoil on what is known as the low prairie, which extends west three-fourths of a mile, and north from the southern line about three and one-half miles. The rest of the town is known as High Prairie, which is a sort of table-land with a black loam and clay subsoil, making the richest kind of soil for any crops suitable to this latitude.
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