USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 22
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 22
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April 10, 1857, the boundaries of the election districts were again defined.
East Prairie. Commencing at the southeast corner of town- ship 109, range 19; thence north twelve miles ; thence west nine
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miles ; thence south twelve miles ; thence east nine miles to place of beginning. This embraced the present townships of Richland and Wheeling and the east half of Cannon City and Walcott.
Faribault. Commencing at the southeast corner of section 33, township 109, range 20; thence north twelve miles; thence west six miles ; thence south twelve miles; thence east six miles to place of beginning. This included the present city of Fari- bault, the west half of Cannon City, the west half of Walcott and the east halves of Wells and Warsaw.
Houston. Commencing at the southeast corner of section 33, township 109, range 21; thence north nine miles; thence west nine miles; thence south nine miles; thence east nine miles to place of beginning. This included the west half of Warsaw, the southwest quarter of Wells, all of Morristown and the south half of Shieldsville.
Northfield-the precincts of Northfield and Cannon River having been combined. Commencing at the southeast corner of township 111, range 19; thence north six miles; thence west twelve miles; thence south six miles; thence east six miles to place of beginning. This included the present townships of Bridgewater with the exception of the twelve sections later an- nexed from Dakota county.
Forest. Commencing at the southeast corner of township 111, range 21; thence west three miles; thence north two miles ; thence west three miles; thence north four miles; thence east six miles ; thence south six miles to place of beginning. This in- cluded all the present town of Forest except sections 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33, the southwestern sixth.
Shieldsville remained the same as created July 10, 1856, in- cluding all the present township of Erin, the north half of Shields- ville, the northwest quarter of Wells, and sections 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 in Forest.
Minnemedah was the present Webster.
Wheatland was as at present.
The judges of election were as follows:
Faribault-Isaac Woodman, John B. Wheeler, Charles Will- iams.
Houston-Walter Morris, Henry Bassett, Russell Randall.
Shieldsville-William Haney. John Johnson, John Tufts.
Wheatland-William Vincent, Titus Bunnell, John Falconer.
Minnemedah-H. M. Humphrey, Farris Webster, Robert H. Dilley.
East Prairie-Isaac N. Sater, Calvin Frink, Elijah Austin.
Northfield-Ira S. Field, Benjamin Lockerly, Joseph R. Drake.
July 7, 1857, the board attached to Northfield precinct the sec-
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tions that had been annexed from Dakota county, viz, : sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 in township 112, range 20, and sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 in township 112, range 19.
April 11, 1858, the following resolution was passed : That the county commissioners divide this county into towns as provided in the provisions of an act entitled, "An act providing for town- ship organization." . That this county is divided into towns, making each township according to the government sur- vey a town as provided by the provisions of the above act, with the exceptions of sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112, range 20, which are annexed to the township next south : and sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112, range 19, which are annexed to the township next south.
April 14, 1858, the commissioners met in special session. Communications were received from the chairmen and secretaries of three respective meetings asking that the name of Northfield be given to township 111, ranges 19 and 20; the name of Wells to township 110, range 21; and the name of Richland to township 109, range 19. A petition was also received from Walter Morris asking that township 109, range 22, be called Morristown; from Samuel P. Walcott and others asking that township 109, range 20, be called Walcott ; and from S. A. Henderson and others ask- ing that township 111. range 21, be named Forest ; Thomas Bolls and others of Cannon City asking that the name Crystal Lake be given to the following described territory : Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23. 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36 and the east half of 28, 8 and 17, in township 110, range 20; sec- tions 33, 34, 35 and 36 in township 111, range 20; section 31 in township 111, range 19, and sections 6, 7, 18. 19. 30 and 31, town- ship 111, range 19. W. B. Spencer and others asked that the name of East Prairieville be given to the following described territory : Commencing at the southeast corner of township 110, range 20 ; thence running west three miles ; thence north two and a half miles : thence east three miles ; thence south three miles to place of beginning. It will be noted that this description is an impossible one, owing doubtless to clerical error. The descrip- tion of Crystal Lake also appears to have been jumbled in copy- ing.
April 15, 1858, the following petitions were granted : That of Walter Morris and others that township 109, range 22, be called Morristown. That of William Thompson and others and Norris N. Graves and others that township 109, range 21, be called Sar- gent. That of Samuel P. Walcott and others that township 100. range 20, be called Walcott. That of citizens that township 109, range 19, be named Richland.
April 17, the following petitions were received and granted :
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That of Michael Gavin and others that township 110, range 22, be organized as Shieldsville. That of Thomas Flannigan and others that township 111. range 22, be organized as Erin. That of citi- zens that township 110, range 19, be named Wheeling. That of citizens that township 110, range 21, be named Wells. That of inhabitants that township 111, range 21, be named Forest. No name having been presented for township 112, range 21, it was named Webster. No name having been presented for township 112, range 22, it was named Wheatland. At the same meeting J. S. Archibald and others remonstrated against the proposed division of township 111, range 20, as prayed by Joseph R. Drake and others. The petition of J. S. Archibald and others at township 111, range 20, excepting section 1 (and sections 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 in township 112, range 20), be organized under the name of Bridgewater, section 1, 111, 20, and section 36, 112, 20, to be added to the town next east, was granted. Township 111, range 19, was named Northfield, no mention being made of sec- tions 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, township 112, range 20; section 1, 111, 20, or section 36, 112, 20.
It then became necessary to divide township 110, range 20. The petition of Thomas Bolles has already been mentioned. A petition was presented by S. C. Gilman and others asking that Faribault constitute the following territory : Sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32. 33, 34, 35, 36, the west half of sections 8, 17 and 28 and the south half of sections 25, 26, 27 and 28. The board re- solved that township 110, range 20, be divided into two town- ships, as follows: Said line commencing at the northwest corner of section 5 ; thence running south one mile ; thence east one-half mile to the quarter stake on the north line of section 8; thence south two miles to the quarter stake on the north line of section 20; thence east one-half a mile to the northwest corner of section 21 ; thence south one mile to the northwest corner of section 28; thence east one-half a mile to the quarter stake on the north line of section 28; thence south one mile to the quarter stake on the north line of section 33 ; thence east three and a half miles to the section stake at the northeast corner of section 36, all in the same town and range ; that the part north and east of this line be called Cannon City and all west and south, Faribault.
The name of Sargent was afterward changed to Warsaw. The people of Webster attempted to name their town Carollton, but were not successful.
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CHAPTER IX.
MILITARY HISTORY.
Conditions at the Outbreak of the Struggle-First War Meeting -Items of Interest-Bounties and Drafts-Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society-Names of the Veterans from Rice County- First Infantry-Second Infantry-Third Infantry-Fourth Infantry-Fifth Infantry-Sixth Infantry-Seventh Infantry -Eighth Infantry-Tenth Infantry-Eleventh Infantry- First Battalion Infantry-First Heavy Artillery-First Mounted Rangers-Brackett's Battalion-Independent Bat- talion-Second Cavalry-Other Companies and Regiments- Revised by Hon. James Hunter.
When the Civil war broke out in April 1861, Rice county had not been open to settlement ten years. The organization of the county was not six years old, and the state had been admitted to the Union scarcely three years. The people had but just started making themselves homes in the wilderness, when came the call for troops to preserve the Union.
The feeling prevailed among the people of Rice county that the Union must be preserved, and the sights and sounds that were visible and audible in every hamlet, village and city of the North were duplicated here. Men abandoned the pursuits of peace for the arts of war, and the share that Rice county and Minnesota had in those days of great and glorious deeds is recorded on the pages of United States history.
Governor Alex. Ramsey, being in Washington when Fort Sumter surrendered, immediately tendered to President Lincoln 1,000 men to defend the Union, being the first tender of troops made to the government, which was accepted. Ramsey notified Lieutenant-Governor Ignatius Donnelly to issue a call for volun- teers, which was issued just three days after the surrender of Sumter. Three days after the call on April 19, 1861. the first war meeting in Rice county was held at Metropolitan hall in Faribault The thrill of patriotism created by the call to arms vibrated throughout the state and people came from all the sur- rounding country to this meeting. At this meeting stirring speeches were made by Levi Nutting, Gordon E. Cole, John M. Berry and O. F. Perkins and more than two-thirds of the number required for the company, then called the Faribault Volunteers,
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were enrolled, and in a few days after the company attained the maximum of 100 men. At this time the company was presented with a flag by the ladies of Faribault, which subsequently be- came the regimental flag of the First Minnesota Volunteer In- fantry. The presentation was made by Thomas S. Buckham, now judge of the district court. The company then went to Fort Snelling, where it was mustered into the United States service May 29, 1861, for three months as Company G, First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and a few days later was mustered for three years or during the war. The memory of the dead of Company G, who were nearly all from Rice county, is enshrined in the hearts of all the early settlers of the county.
In July, 1862, G. F. Batchelder offered a private bounty of $10 to any man who would enlist. At this time the government was paying $25 in advance, $3 extra and one month in advance to all who enlisted. July 4, 1862, the patriotism of the town of Faribault was stimulated by a celebration with Dr. Charles Jewett as an orator. August 12, 1862, there was a war meeting at the Metropolitan hall in Faribault, at which speeches were made in the interest of recruiting. Later in the history of the war more substantial inducements were offered in the shape of large bounties.
Up to August, 1862, under the calls the state had to raise 5,360 men, and the proportion for Rice county was 336. Levi Nutting was appointed provost marshal for the state. The Can- non River Guards, Captain Pettit, recruited here, marched Au- gust 20, 1862, with ninety-four officers and men. Lieutenant Cavanaugh was commissioned to recruit for the Eighth Minne- sota. In the summer of 1862, Hon. Mr. Magoon was in Fari- bault recruiting for the Sixth Regiment. Captain Parker was home in the summer on sick and recruiting leave.
Up to August, 1862, Morristown, with less than 100 legal voters, sent sixty men into the ranks. At the time of the Sioux massacre, in August, 1862, Rice county promptly sent a force of cavalry to the front. Mr. Faribault had ninety men in the saddle very promptly. The Rice County Rangers was the first com- pany to report at St. Peter's. Major Dike was also authorized to raise a company to operate on the frontier. Lieutenant West was likewise engaged in recruiting a cavalry company from the county. In October, 1862, the recruiting was twenty-two ahead of the quota in Rice county.
The board of county commissioners on August 8, 1862, took up war matters and appropriated money from the county fund, and provided that the sum of $20 be paid to every volunteer, the number not to exceed 200, who should on or before August 15 enlist in the Rice County Guards, the Emmet Guards, or any
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other company organizing in Rice county. On September 2 an- other bounty of $20 was appropriated to all who would volunteer to fill the quota. After voting these bounties it was declared as follows by the board: "To be the intent and meaning of this resolution, together with the appropriation, passed August 8, 1862, to provide for the payment hereinabove specified, to each and every person who shall have voluntarily enlisted in the serv- ice of the United States, as above mentioned. Providing, the number does not exceed filling Rice county's quota."
The Mounted Rangers, raised to operate against the Sioux, and commanded by Col. Samuel McPhail, was partly recruited here by Lieut. O. D. Brown. During that terrible time quite large numbers from Rice county had their first experience in camp life in that campaign. While the troops were engaged with the Sioux the draft was impending with its alarming uncertainty, and its distressingly few blanks, unlike usual raffles, all were anxious to draw, and so the governor sent a telegram to the President asking that the draft be postponed and the time for paying bounties for enlistments extended, and here is a copy of his characteristic reply : "Washington, August 27, 1862 .- To Governor Ramsey: Yours received. Attend to the Indians! If the draft cannot proceed, of course it will not proceed. Neces- sity knows no law. The government cannot extend the time .- A. Lincoln."
On January, 8, 1863, the county board resolved "That each town in the county constitute a military district." This was done in accordance with a law which had been passed by the legislature of the state to organize all the available men, as to age and physical qualifications, into militia companies. In ac- cordance with the above law, which was passed on the 29th of September, 1862, the election in the various districts for commis- sioned officers was held on the 7th of April. 1863. Some of the districts having failed to elect, the officers were subsequently appointed by the board. The names of the officers of these com- panies are not here given because many of them never went to the front, and the names of those who actually served will ap- pear in the subjoined list.
The Rice County Guards, Captain Cutter, was another local company ; also the Mcclellan Guards. The Ladies' Aid Society in Faribault gave a grand entertainment in the winter of 1863 Mrs. H. Wilson was president of the society at that time.
In June, 1863, there were several Indians at Mr. Alexander Faribault's, and a rumor was circulated to the effect that some of them had been connected with the New Ulm massacre, but Mr. Faribault promptly set the matter right. Those who were with him were Wacon, or Le Clare, and family, who came here when
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Faribault did; Pay-pay and family and a widow and two chil- dren, the wife and mother of Good Thunder, who assisted in saving captives who were sent here for their safety. They were all "good Injuns." In the fall of 1863, Capt. E. A. Rice was at home on recruiting service. Charles Jewett, who had gone to Massachusetts, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Fifty- fourth Regiment of that state. Dr. Jewett had three sons in the army ; one of them, John, was killed in battle. In January, 1864, a resolution was adopted to equalize the bounty for the payment of $20 to certain soldiers who had enlisted previous to August 21, 1862. In February, 1864, a bounty of $125 was voted by Faribault, and sixteen or seventeen were enlisted under the new call. The Fourth Minnesota re-enlisted in the winter of 1864, and came home on a veteran furlough. Company G, of the First Regiment, had a like home run, and a reception. The committee of reception on the part of the citizens consisted of Major William H. Dike, H. Wilson, E. N. Leavens, G. F. Batchelder, R. A. Mott, and a suitable honor was accorded them.
In 1864, the question of voting relief by the county to the families of soldiers' widows and families was discussed, and reso- lutions were offered in the board, but opponents of the measure succeeded in defeating it, which may not, perhaps, be an evidence of want of patriotism, but the entertainment of a doubt as to whether this was the proper method to extend relief to this most deserving class, so many natural protectors of whom had sacri- ficed their lives for the safety of our common home. In 1864, Rev. L. Webb was commissioned to raise a company. G. L. Porter was a recruiting officer for heavy artillery in 1864. Major Michael Cook, of the Tenth Regiment, was killed at the battle of Nashville; his friends and neighbors paid due respect to his mem- ory on Dec. 27, 1864. In April, 1865, nearly $1,000 worth of sanitary stores were sent south. Early in the year 1865 a Sol- diers' Families' aid society was in operation, and festivals were in order to raise money. Several clergymen from Rice county were in the ranks, among them Rev. D. B. Anderson, a Baptist ; Rev. L. Pease, a Methodist ; Rev. Lauren Armsby, pastor of the Con- gregational church in Faribault, was the chaplain of the Eighth Minnesota ; Rev. E. R. Lathrop, of the Tenth ; Rev. C. G. Bow- dish also enlisted. Rev. L. Webb was in an Illinois regiment. Charles E. Davidson was the interesting army correspondent of the "Republican" at Faribault. He was a member of Company G, First Minn. Vol. Inf. He died in November, 1862, at Bledsoe's Island, New York harbor, where he was carried after the "seven days' fight." He left a wife and many friends in Faribault. As the different companies came home at the expiration of their term of service, or at the close of the war, they were handsomely
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received. On the most important occasion of the kind General Nutting made the welcome address, which was responded to by Rev. Mr. Lathrop. Of course, there was the dinner and the usual concomitants.
Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society. October 7, 1861, when the idea of the magnitude of the struggle began to dawn upon the average Northern mind, and the notion that the Rebellion could be put down in three months was thoroughly dissipated, the patriotic ladies of Faribault met at Metropolitan hall and organized a so- ciety to assist in supplying the sick and wounded soldiers with necessary articles for their comfort. The membership was quite large and embraced the leading ladies of the place. The first officers of this association were: President, Mrs. Bemis: vice- president, Mrs. S. B. Rockway: secretary, Mrs. E. J. Crump ; treasurer, Mrs. May Fisk ; committee, Mrs. J. H. Winter, Mrs. A. J. Tanner, Mrs. W. H. Stevens, Mrs. S. F. Van Brunt and Mrs. A. P. Tula.
Typical Contribution. As we are so rapidly passing away from the memories of those stirring times, it may be well to here preserve a memento of the war in the form of a list of articles that was furnished from Northfield. June 2. 1862. This was the second instalment of similar goods from that place. The invoice consisted of : Eight quilts. seventeen pillows, two dozen woolen socks, six coarse combs, ten fine combs, nine dressing gowns, one pair of slippers, nine new shirts, seven old shirts, eight pair of drawers, one dozen brown towels, nine cotton sheets, one linen sheet, twenty-one pillow cases, twenty-seven linen towels, forty cotton napkins, five dozen compresses, four linen handkerchiefs. forty-four rolls of bandages, one package of linen and cotton rags. eighteen palm leaf fans, one pair of shoes, three hair brushes. five quires of paper, twelve packages of envelopes, twelve drinking cups, nine cakes of toilet soap, one package of tea, one package of cloves, one package of corn starch, one package of linen thread, five papers of needles, three and a half dozen buttons, one cake of beeswax, one package of hooks and eyes, steel pens, sponges, one pair of scissors, two pounds of castile soap. five books and two Bibles. Collections of a like nature were made all over the county, especially during the last three years of the war. and it can readily be seen what a large amount of stores were sent.
The men who went from Rice county and fought in the Civil war deserve a lasting place in the honor and affection of the pres- ent generation. An effort has been made to preserve the names of those who, in enlisting, gave Rice county as their residence.
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The list is unfortunately not complete, though it is copied from the adjutant general's report. Some men from this county en- listed in other states, and many an honored old veteran, who is now numbered among the old soldiers of Rice county, came here after the war, his name being recorded in the records of other portions of the Union.
The list of those whose names appear on the adjutant gen- eral's report as enlisting from this county follows :
FIRST INFANTRY.
This regiment was organized in April, 1861, and originally commanded by Willis A. Gorman, of St. Paul ; ordered to Wash- ington, D. C., June 14, 1861. It was engaged in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes, viz .: First Bull Run, July 21, 1861 ; Edwards' Ferry, October 22, 1861 ; Yorktown, May 7, 1862; Fair Oaks, June 1, 1862; Peach Orchard and Savage Station, June 29, 1862; Glendale and Nelson's Farm, June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; Vienna, September 2, 1862; Antietam, September 17, 1862; Charlestown, Va., October 17, 1862; first Fredericksburg, December 11, 12 and 13, 1862; second Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863; Gettysburg, July 2 and 3, 1863; and Bristow Station, October 14, 1863. The regiment was dis- charged at Fort Snelling, Minn., May 5, 1864. It will be seen by this record that the First Minnesota participated in some of the most important battles of the war, and was almost constantly active, on the march or in the field of battle, at all times reflecting credit upon the state that sent them forth to sustain the Union in its hour of peril. Major, William H. Dike.
Company G-Lewis McKune, captain; Nathan S. Messick, first lieutenant, promoted captain ; John J. Mccollum, first lieu- tenant ; William E. Smith, second lieutenant ; Joseph H. Spencer, first sergeant ; Charles C. Parker, sergeant ; George A. Williams, sergeant ; John J. Mccollum, sergeant ; James DeGrey, corporal ; Edward Tunman, corporal ; John Logan, corporal; Charles E. Hess, corporal ; Philo Hall, corporal ; Frank Dickinson, corporal ; William H. Ramsey, corporal; Louis E. Hanneman, musician ; Jolın E. Strothman, musician; Francis Gibson, wagoner. Pri- vates-Adams Areman, Edward H. Basset, Henry Borchert, Jef- ferson G. Baker, George R. Buckmar, Fridelin Boll, Phineas L. Dunham, James L. Dubois, John Gatzke, Jonathan Goodrich, Joseph L. House, Martin Healy, Caleb B. Jackson, Benjamin H. Jewett, George A. Kenney, Samuel Laird, William Myers, Asa Miller, James L. Nichols, Edward Potter, John M. Rhorer, Lewis G. Reynolds. Peter W. Ramsdell, Walter S. Reed, William A. Rooks, Julius Schultz, Chauncey Squier, James T. Sawyer,
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Charles E. Webster, Marvin D. Andress, Dennis L. Barton, Nor- man B. Barron, Charles M. Benson, Joseph G. Bemis, William G. Coen, Charles E. Davison, Stephen E. Ferguson, Robert Gregg, Ezra D. Haskins, George I. Hopkins, John Holther, Albert Hohnson, Anthony Joncs, Samuel Lilly, George Magee, John McKinster, Edward Z. Needham, George W. Olmstead, William Potter, Samuel Reynolds, James E. Russell, Benjamin Roberts, Neri Reed, Banteus Soule, George P. Sawyer, Almon C. Strick- land, Edgar Tiffany, Theodore Williams, Henry Clay Whitney, David Wood, Richard M. Wattles, Edward E. Verplank. Recruits-M. M. Curtis, William A. Brooks, Nathaniel Reed, G. J. Mccullough, J. M. Babcock, M. Haskell, William D. Ben- nett, S. J. Pearl, Charles Taylor, J. W. Peaseley, S. S. Gifford, William Close.
Company H-Privates-Andrew J. Brook, Newton Brown, Henry C. Cady, John Clausen, William Cagger, Columbus Brock, Franklin Bauman, Mortimer Canfield, Dennis Crandall, Samuel S. Cronkhite.
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