USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 17
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 17
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The first actual settler in this town was Edward H. Cutts, who came from Vermont, having stopped a while at the head of Lake Pepin, in the year 1853. His first visit here was in December of that year, and he selected a claim in sections 20 and 21. Late in February, 1854, he returned with Jacob Ches- rown, who was a young man, and another by the name of Rouse, who were hired by Mr. Cutts. They started from Hastings with a yoke of oxen. a cow and a pony, with supplies on a sled, and for the first day had a good many snowbanks to shovel through. When twelve miles out they lost the trail, and while looking right and left for it one of the men was sent on ahead to a piece of timber to build a fire and prepare supper. It was getting dark and they heard a pack of wolves coming. One of them seized the axe and the other got his pistol ready, but they crossed at a little distance, evidently on the track of a deer. The next day the ground got bare and the sledding was difficult. The next night the camp was on the prairie, and by picking up every stick they could find and using what they could spare of the ends of the sled stakes, they built quite a good fire. They also used up the hay, and in the night the cattle took the back track and Mr. Cutts had to gallop back on the pony after them for five or six miles. In the morning they mixed up some meal in a handkerchief and baked a cake in the ashes. Before they reached Faribault the sled had to be abandoned and a wagon secured, with which Mr. Cutts finally got his things on his place and began to build. In a few days his cow had a calf, and one night a timber wolf undertook to carry it off, but Mr. Cutts drove the brute away and took the calf inside There came up a frightful snow storm, and as he had no shelter except the lec' side of the cabin, he had to take the cow in also until the storm
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had subsided. Mr. Cutts built the first log cabin in town and the first frame house. The first house was burned in the winter of 1855-56. The next winter he went to get married, and brought his wife as far as Illinois and returned, having a serious time in getting through. When at last Mrs. Cutts came on he went to meet her in an ox cart, and she had to make a part of the journey on foot, stopping at that noted sod tavern, where they met Dr. Jewett, who had also been to meet his family.
The town received a few settlers in 1853. Nathaniel Meyers. with his family, came and located on section 28. He was from New York. John Luther Cabot, a single man, also from New York, came at the same time. He was born in 1831, and remained here a few years, removing to Goodhne county.
The spring of 1854 brought a few more venturesome indi- viduals, among whom should be noted Richmond Jones, of New York. Joseph Richard, also a New Yorker, came that year. George W. Marks secured a place in section 11. George Dor- rance, another native of the Empire state, settled in section 23.
In 1855, attention having been called to this region, the town was well filled up, some of the claims having been entered the fall before.
The town was named in honor of Samuel Walcott, from Massachusetts, who was a very able, energetic and talented man. but after a time his mind became distraught, and he found an abiding place in an insane retreat in his native state. He was public spirited, liberal minded and with unbounded enthusiasm, and had he remained no one can predict what projects for the improvement of his adopted town he might have carried out.
The first religious exercises were by Elder Crist, a Metho- dist minister, in 1855, in the spring, at a private house owned by Mr. Richardson, on section 32. An early birth was Laura E .. daughter of George and Hannah M. Dorrance, February 3, 1855, on section 22 in a log cabin. She was married on December 14, 1878, and the following spring removed to Yellow Medicine county. The first marriage remembered was December 25, 1856, when Edward Beach and Elizabeth Beardsley were united in the bonds of wedlock. The first death was that of Mrs. Axta Jones, wife of Richmond Jones, who was struck by lightning on July 4. 1854, while in their tent in section 29, in the presence of her husband. two children, her brother and John Luther Cabot.
The following paragraph appeared in the St. Panl papers in November, 1878: "Intelligence has just reached here that a farmer, whose name could not be learned, residing near Walcott. a little station situated between Faribault and Medford, on the Iowa division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. had administered a lesson to two tramps, that by reason of its
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severity will never be appreciated by them in this world, but will have a wholesome effect in deterring others from attempting similar crimes, The two tramps above mentioned, under cover of darkness, entered a wheat field where a self-binding har- vester had been at work during the day, and deliberately piling the newly cut grain about the machine prepared to cremate both grain and harvester. Unfortunately for the success of their plans, the owner, whose suspicions had been aroused during the day, happened with a double-barreled shotgun just as they applied the torch, and with an impartiality which did him credit, gave each the contents of a barrel. Result, two dead tramps and a little damage to the grain. The farmer hurried to Faribault after the deed and gave himself up to the authorities, but instead of being detained was told to go back to his farm, and if another such attempt to destroy his property was made to serve the per- petrators in a like manner."
The first railroad survey was made through the town in 1858, and grading began in 1859, but it was not until 1868 that the rumbling of the cars was first heard. The first blacksmith shop was erected in 1860, on section 36, by Mr. Mclaughlin, who wrought the plastic iron and steel for two years, when he packed up and went west. From the time when that fire went out the town had no son of Vulcan within its borders until 1881. when Hans Floom, a Norsk, started a forge in section 24.
Samuel Livingston, from 1860 to 1867, was known as the "Walcott lime burner." He secured his rock from the very bed of the Straight river. E. S. Lord succeeded him, and he took the stone from the bank of the river.
A cheese factory was established in 1878 in section 1. The establishment was procured in Richland and moved here by William Mathers and worked by his son.
The Straight River Grange was organized September 5, 1872. with seventy charter members. Its meetings were on Saturday evenings in a schoolhouse, and the organization kept up until 1881, when it was finally disbanded.
The Hunters of the Prairie. In 1860, a society with this name was organized, and it was kept up for ten years. The first meeting was in the schoolhouse, when an organization was effected and officers chosen to lead in a war of extermination against the predatory animals in the vicinity, and a hunt was promptly instituted. Two captains chose their respective fol- lowers, and the whole community was thus divided into two clans. Everything was game, from a mouse up to the fiercest denizen of the forest. The trophies of the chase were the caudal appendages, and each had a value according to a pre-established scale, and the losing party had to pay certain prizes. In July a
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regular picnic, which went by the name of a "Gopher Picnic," was held, where men, women and children gathered to partici- pate in the sport, and after the contest was decided by counting the game, a dinner and other festivities were enjoyed. The num- ber of animals taken would run up into the thousands and these hunts were of great value in ridding the country of the swarming pests.
Redfield Old Settlers' Association. This society was organ- ized in the schoolhouse in 1858, meetings being held annually. All were admitted-men, women and children-regardless of age, that had come from the township of Redfield in New York state, and members were eligible from any portion of Rice county. In 1868 the last meeting of the society was held, the membership having dwindled down to ten. During their time of prosperity meetings were held at the residence of M. S. Seymour, on sec- tion 22.
In 1856 Samuel Walcott, having contracted the prevailing epidemic which inspired so many to lay out villages and cities, proceeded to plat a village which was given the name of Wal- cott. The location involved parts of sections 20, 21 and 28 and 29. There was nothing small about the plan, the proportions of which were magnificent, but it did not progress far enough to be recorded. But a single house was built, and that was for a hotel by Charles Smith. There was a steam sawmill with a twenty-five horsepower engine ready to cut lumber to build the prospective city. This was owned by E. H. Auldon and run for a while, but was subsequently taken down and carried to Shields- ville.
On November 21, 1861. Judge Isaac Woodman had a burial ground surveyed on section 8, a single acre, and divided into forty lots. The first burial here was Helena, a daughter of J. S. House, who died on March 2, 1860, at the age of two years and three months, a shocking and most horrible death. It seems that her mother was called out for a few minutes in the performance of her domestic duties, leaving the little girl tied into a high chair, which she upset directly upon the stove and was burned in such a terrible way that she survived but a few hours.
Walcott, in the war of the rebellion, was well represented, there being twenty-four men who volunteered and who, strange to say, returned without a missing man. No draft in town was had, but the citizens voted at different times recruit bounties amounting in the aggregate to $4,800. In 1872 the town voted bonds to the amount of $2,000 to build a bridge across the Straight river at the Walcott mills. A bridge had existed at the mills, partly constructed by the proprietors and partly by the town, but it was washed away and the mill owners being dis-
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inclined to repair the damage so as to make it available for a road, the town had to rebuild it, which was done about twenty rods north of its old position at the mill.
Pursuant to notice, the first town meeting for the election of officers and organization of the town was held at the house of Jacob Chesrown May 11, 1858. The moderator was Isaac Wood- man, and the clerk was Isaac R. Pentz. An assessment of $200 was made for town expenses. What should constitute a lawful fence was agreed upon. It was voted that horses and cattle could run at large from November to the first of April and that sheep and hogs be prohibited from being at large. The second town meeting was held at the house of James Williams and was an adjourned meeting to elect officers, which was not accom- plished at the first meeting on account of other business.
The town officers elected at this meeting were: Supervisors. Isaac Woodman, chairman ; E. P. Jones and D. C. Hunkins; assessor, James Denison ; collector, Elijah Austin ; clerk, Isaac R. Pentz; justices of the peace, William Kester and George Dor- rance ; overseer of the poor, Isaac Woodman ; constables, Jacob Chesrown and Charles B. Kingsbury. The first meeting of the supervisors was on May 22, at the house of the clerk, where the first division of road districts was made. The salary of the first clerk was $4.30 for the first year. At the first state election. in the fall of 1858, there were twenty-eight votes cast. Town affairs have been managed in an honest and economical way.
FOREST TOWNSHIP.
Forest township is in the northwestern part of Rice county. and comprises the thirty-six sections of the congressional town- ship. It constitutes township 111, range 21 west, containing 23,040 acres. The contiguous surroundings are Webster on the north, Wells on the south, Bridgewater on the east and Erin on the west. The town is made up of rolling land, interspersed with spots of prairie and natural meadow. There are no bluffs, and few hills that are too abrupt for agricultural purposes. When the township was originally settled the prairie spots were, as a rule, covered with patches of hazel brush, and here and there lay acres of natural meadow, seemingly prepared and waiting for the plow. This, however, has all been transformed into the richest and most fertile farms in the county. The soil is mostly a black loam with a clay subsoil. There is hardly any sand or limestone in the town. Good clear water can be obtained easily within from twelve to fifteen feet.
There are a number of beautiful lakes nestling among the hills, which all abound with fish of various varieties, and because
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of the abundance of the finny species this locality was a favorite resort for the Indians in an early day, many pickerel, pike, bass, etc., being secured each season by the redskins. Circle lake is the principal and the largest one in the town. It is situated in the geographical center of the town, and takes its name from the fact that it makes a complete circle, leaving an island in the center of ninety-seven acres. Just south of this is Fox lake, embracing about 200 acres. Union lake extends into the town in the northi- east corner, and infringes on section 2. Lake Mazaska floods about one-half of section 31, and a little lake with the cognomen of Mud nestles in section 11. There are also numerous small streams in the town. Originally, in sections 6 and 7, wild cran- berries abounded, and many of the carly pioneers availed them- selves of this luxury, but of late years not much attention has been paid to them, and they have now become comparatively scarce. In 1856, from the northeast quarter of section 7, John W. and Joseph Thompson and Albert Fillmore took $780 worth of the berries.
When the first explorers of this township made their appear- ance they found the hills and interspersed prairie spots covered with wild game and the wild aborigines. The timber land was a forest in the strictest sense of the word, and was almost im- penetrable, making the progress of the introducers of civilization very tedious and even dangerous. The actual settlement in the locality commenced in 1854, the honor of the first settlership being due to William Henderson, who arrived in October of that year, originally from Mainc. He made his way on foot from St. Paul and made up his mind to avail himself of the oppor- tunity to take his pick of the fine farms in the township. This he did by locating in the northeastern part of the town on sec- tion 2, at the outlet of Union lake. He at once put up the frame of a small log shanty, and without completing it, remained to hunt and trap until he was frozen out, when he went to St. Paul to spend the winter. In the following spring he returned, bring- ing with him a small load of furniture, his wife and her sister, a maiden lady. He took the claim that he had selected and com- menced opening a farm. Here he remained for about five years. when he left for other localities. The next to cast his lot among the lakes and timbers of Forest was George Eaton, a young man of grit and enterprise, who arrived a couple of months later than Henderson and located on the southwest quarter of section 11. He put up a small hewn log hut and commenced trying to farm, but succeeded better at trapping. This, it will be seen, com- menced a settlement ; Henderson on section 2, at the outlet of Lake Union, and Eaton on section 11, one mile south. The next acquisition to the settlement was made early in 1855, in the per-
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sons of Mr. Hill, John Parker and William Palmer, who all located on or near section 9, one mile west of the places settled by Eaton and Henderson. Parker and Hill had brought their families with them, and they at once put up hewn log shanties. Hill brought in with him one horse, and the other two, Parker and Palmer, brought an ox team, in which each owned an interest. The next comer was John W. Thompson, who had previously located in Hastings, but who after several visits to Forest township decided that he preferred Rice to Dakota county. He accordingly settled in section 8.
In the meantime the settlers about the Union lake district had made themselves very comfortable, considering their cir- cumstances, and all were living principally on deer meat and other wild game. In this manner they spent the summer, a few of them having put in a few potatoes, rutabagoes, etc., and a rich harvest rewarded them. There were none, however, but opened and prepared some land for crop the following year.
In the fall of that year (1854) a number of arrivals were marked on the corner stakes of claims. Leonard and Jacob Balyet, Joseph and Elijah Houck and John Craven came to- gether and all took claims near Millersburg, a little south of the settlement mentioned above.
Zebulon Sargent and John Jones came shortly afterward and located in section 27. They, in common with the rest of the hardy pioneers, commenced Minnesota life in log huts.
A few days after the arrival of the above parties there ap- peared three Norwegian families on the scene, fresh from the pioneer life in Wisconsin, and in covered wagons. As the season was getting late and they had their stock with them, they con- cluded to put up hay to last through the winter before they erected cabins. This they did, and while they were at work in the hay field the wife of one of the emigrants was taken sick, and there, in the covered wagon, was delivered of a baby girl. Both mother and child lived and the girl grew to womanhood, was married and lived with her husband and a large family of children on the identical spot where the wagon stood when the birth occurred. This was the first birth in the township. Early in 1856 Albert Fillmore and family, and the following week H. A. White, arrived and located near Millersburg, and after them came James Fitzimmons, who commenced laying plans for the village of Millersburg. At the same time should be chronicled the arrival of George and Milo J. Sellon. John Wood and E. F. Taylor, who were brought in by J. W. Thompson, and all took claims, most of them in the neighborhood of Millersburg. Au- gust and William Demann took places on section 20. In the
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fall their brother Christian made his appearance. Alexander Smith came in 1856 and settled in section 34.
Frederick Fisher came from Milwaukee in the latter part of 1856. He brought with him forty-one head of stock and two large wagon loads of furniture and goods. It being late in the season he decided to follow the example of the Norwegians in the fall before and put up hay for his stock before he erected a cabin, and afterwards put up a substantial log house. Here he lived for a number of years, but was very unfortunate in almost all of his undertakings. His wife was burned to death a few years after his arrival, by the explosion of a kerosene lamp- such a thing as a lamp being at that time a novelty and a curi- osity. He expended all of his means in a few years and removed. One incident connected with his early pioneering may prove of interest. He brought in with him a very large and fierce dog, and intended it for protection against the wild beasts. One noon, at the time when Fisher and his family were living in wagons and making hay, immediately after their arrival, they left the hay field and were at dinner when the dog went down to the field where a pack of wolves were heard howling and barking. From the high point where the wagons were, overlooking the meadow, the Fishers saw a fierce fight going on between wolves and dog, and by the time they got upon the ground all that was left of the dog was the shining skeleton, which had been picked clean by the voracious pack.
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 10.
The town of Forest was not behind the neighboring towns in organizing and starting the local governmental wheels. The first meeting was held May 11, 1858, at the residence of James Fitzsimmons, and after organization the following officials were elected: Supervisors, Elias F. Taylor, Zebulon Sargent and Charles Brand; clerk, Alexander Smith; assessor, Joseph L. Houck ; justices of the peace, George Miller and John R. Bartlett ; constables, Milo J. Sellon and John W. Sargent; overseer of the poor, John Jones. The clerk of this meeting was J. F. Donald- son and S. A. Henderson was the moderator.
In 1871 a postoffice with the name of Lester was established by J. W. Thompson on the southwest quarter of section 8. At one time it had the largest business of any country postoffice in Rice county.
WARSAW TOWNSHIP.
Warsaw township lies along the southern boundary of Rice connty, being separated from the western boundary by one
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town. Its contiguous surroundings are Wells, Walcott and Morristown, with Steele county on the south. In the north- eastern part the city limits of Faribault embrace the north half of section 1, leaving 22,720 acres to comprise the area of the town. Of this about 2,000 acres are covered with water. The Cannon river winds its powerful course diagonally through the northwestern part of the town, entering from Morristown through section 18, and flowing northeasterly forms Cannon lake, and leaves the town by way of section 4 and enters Wells. Mckenzie's creek, named in honor of Alexander Mckenzie, an carly settler, a stream of considerable importance, finds its source south of the town line and winds its tortuous way northward through the center of the town, until its waters mingle with those of Cannon lake. A small stream, with the non-æsthetic appellation of Mud creek, infringes on the southeast corner, and hastening its course through sections 35, 36 and 25, empties into Straight river, in Walcott township. Dry creek rises in Shields- ville and flows through the northwest corner on its way to Can- non lake. The name this stream bears was evidently not given to characterize it, as the creek is scarcely ever dry.
Cannon lake is the largest and most beautiful lake in Rice county and covers about 1,451 acres. It extends almost across the northwest quarter of the town, embracing portions of sec- tions 34, 7, 8, 9 and 10. It is about four miles long and from one-half to one mile in width, being about twenty-five feet deep at the utmost. The lake abounds with all local species of fish. and in early days this was made regular and oft-frequented hunt- ing and fishing grounds of the Indians. Many of the old settlers can call to mind occasions when there were as many as 200 tepees on the shore of the lake, while the dusky skinned hunters were laying in winter supplies. The lake was originally named by the Indians "Te-ton-ka To-nah." or the Lake of the Village, and it bore this name for a number of years. The story is tokl. and we give it as a legend, that after the name above given had been bestowed upon the lake by the Indians, a small colony of Frenchmen were driven by the redskins to the river, and they took to canoes. The colonists had been prepared for emergency of this kind, and were supplied with firearms, besides having a small cannon in one of the canoes. They were not. however. able to cope with their pursuers, and in attempting to pass the Cannon falls, the canoe containing the cannon became capsized and went to the bottom. Search was made. and the Indians became superstitious in regard to it, as they were unable to find the slightest trace of the lost gun. Since that time the river has always been known as Cannon river, and the lake being formed by it took the same name. The soil of the township is mostly
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a dark loam, of about two feet deep, and a yellow clay subsoil of about four feet, beneath which is a clay of a bluish color. This pertains particularly to the timbered portions of the town. The prairie land is made up of a dark loam from eight inches to a foot in thickness, with a yellow clay subsoil, underneath which is a bed of gravel or sand. A report from this township, pub- lished in 1868, says: "The larger portion of Warsaw is prairie, with occasional groves in the southern and middle portion, and a heavy body of timber belonging to and a part of the Big Woods, on the Cannon river, in the northern part. It has within its limits 21,000 acres of taxable lands, exclusive of town lots. The Cannon lake occupies about 1,400 acres of the northern por- tion of its area. It has also 320 acres of school lands unsold, and one forty of railroad land. There is a considerable portion of the land of this town, owned by non-residents, that can be bought for from $5 to $25 per acre."
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