USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 60
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 60
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was known as the Scotch settlement side of Wheatland. The records of the town, under date of July 16, 1858, show the estab- lishment of - --- , "a branch of the Scotch settlement road." Henry Belland, supposed to be the second man after Frazier, is said to have come with him from St. Paul, and took up a claim in section 32. lle made practically no improvements, lived there just long enough to secure a title and returned to St. Paul. He never returned to his rustic home, and finally disposed of his land to Flavian Benjamin and Cecilie Lambert, the wife of Thomas Lambert. This transfer was made in the year 1862. This, however, was not the first transfer made in this town, but it was one of the three Bohemians who sold first, Raimund Pacovsky selling out to Henry Belland, of Dakota county. The gentlemen who were the first to form what was known as the Scotch settlement were, of course. Scotchmen. from the fair land of Bobbie Burns. They were John Faulkner. David Valentine, Charley Smith and John Taylor. This settle- ment was formed in the eastern part of the town. Faulkner located in section 13, where he stayed for fifteen years, and then removed to McLeod county. Smith unloaded in section 14; Valentine in section 13. and Taylor also staked in section 14. Neither flourished, and some years after the whole party went to a settlement near Cannon Falls. In the seventies it was re- ported that Taylor was struck dead by lightning.
Soon after the Scotch settlement was well under way, the French began to come in goodly numbers; and likewise, soon after, the sons of the Emerald Isle made their appearance on the scene, and they have early established themselves predomi- nantly, to hold their own for a decade, a generation, and in turn give place to another sturdy race, to whose industrious hands were commended the future destinies of the town. A brief sketch of those who followed the wake of Frazier and his Scotch friends, and Lambert, Plaisance and Belland. will now be proper.
Elaire Legree. a Canadian-Frenchman, entered section 21 and decided to make his permanent home there, but when the war broke out he enlisted in the army and died in the service of his country. Thomas McCormick staked his claim in section 20. which he kept until 1866. Ile then soll his land and went to Illinois ; from thence he moved to Missouri. Titus Bunnell, of Nova Scotia, clected the first chairman of the town board of supervisors, came here from Louisiana and established himself on a farm in section 19. In 1858, on May 11, at the organiza- tion meeting, Mr. Bunnell was elected chairman of the town board by twenty-six votes (all the votes cast). qualified, but on September 27, 1858, he tendered his resignation in writing, giving "removal from the state" as the reasons for his resignation.
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Consequently he moved out of the state in the year 1859. He is supposed to have gone to Wisconsin. Among others who came the first year of the settlement, 1855, and whose names appear on the records of the office of the register of deeds, were Henry Bilon (possibly Henry Belland), William Quinn, John Berry (Barrie), Nelson Marsh, John Irvin, John Cook, Benjamin Le Duc, Thomas Lambert, Louis Plaisance, the Martins, McCor- micks and others. In the year 1856, the efforts of Lambert and Plaisance in securing a foothold for their French friends were about to bear fruit, for in that year quite a number of new neighborhoods were formed and settlements were beginning to thicken up considerably. Valuable additions were made to all of the distinct settlements, and the, practically, three classes gave evidence of merging and co-operation, which of course was only a mere matter of time and acquaintance. Among the many that came in this second course of settlers were the Canadian- French, who then gained a permanent place along with a goodly number of Irish, and who, in conjunction with the latter, then controlled the destinies of the town for a number of years. Among the foremost were the Martins; three brothers. Louis, Joseph and Augustus, accompanied by their father and an uncle named Paul. Four of these secured homesteads. Louis located in section 20; Joseph in section 31, as did Augustus. Paul selected a claim in section 33, and the father of the three boys made his home with Joseph. Neither of them stayed, however, longer than the year 1878; Louis vacating in 1873, Paul of the same year ; Augustus taking leave in 1875, and Joseph in 1878. Louis removed to Le Sueur county, Joseph to Becker county and Augustus went to Wisconsin. The father presumably moved along with Joseph, with whom he has always made his home. Zenas Y. Hatch, of Maine, of whom we have previously made mention, established himself permanently in section 17, and made his home there until the year 1864, when he sold to Joseph Kartak, one of the foremost of the permanent Bohemian settlers. Hatch then went to Redwood Falls and from thence to State Agency, Dakota, where he thereafter remained. John Lynch, of Ireland, settled in section 6. In 1868 he sold the place and removed to Goodhue county. Peter Campbell and Charles Orr bought up some land in the same section. Orr died in 1862 and Campbell removed to Scott county. Richard Brown, a native of the Emerald Isle, surrounded a farm in sec- tion 35, upon which he had wrought up to about the year 1884, disposing of his land gradually, piece by piece, to the incoming Bohemians, until the year 1884, when he disposed of the last parcel to one. Thomas Malecha. The Wilson brothers, William and James, came into section 7, where they made some slight
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improvements up to 1864, then selling out. and both joined the army. They have afterwards lived in Scott county, and at the present time their heirs still hold property which the elder Wil- sons then secured. Barnard Durham (Derham), popularly known as Barney Derham, an Irishman, located his part of the great public domain in section 11. He had lived in the town for many years, holding offices of public trust, and finally he moved to a place near Faribault. His children refer with just pride to the Barney Derham days of Wheatland. James Thomp- son, another son of the evergreen isle, took possession of some acres in section 30, and held his own for many years, when he finally went to Mendota. He took up his claim in the year 1857. Michael Fitzpatrick, also an Irishman, found some de- sirable acres in section 23, and worked there for a good many years, until the angel of death summoned him to the far beyond. His daughter now owns the place and still lives in the town, making the village of Veseli her home. She is married to a Bohemian. Albert Stepan. Onisine Barrie, a native of Canada. pre-empted a place in sections 9 and 10. In 1882 he moved to Wells town. Thomas Lawler, another exponent of wit and humor, procured a farm in section 18, but later moved to North- field, where he and his continued to reside. Among others who made their early appearance, although but few if any of them remained in the township any length of time, were John, Will- iam and Thomas Barrett, Patrick Kirk (Quirk). Patrick Little- ton, Thomas Riley, Thomas Kilroy and James Giblin, all natives of the land of the "Shamrock."
In a work of this kind, it is well for the author to adhere strictly to facts as he finds them, and therefore, from a historical point of view, it were well to add to this brief narrative some of the facts concerning the past history of this town, which have been hitherto generally, if not totally, omitted, and which should be of interest to the present generation of Wheatland town. as well as to all those who appreciate at any time a true and im- partial presentation of the truth.
Though Frazier is very generally supposed to be the first resident in the town, and though it is practically an established fact that he was the first settler or for that matter the first in- habitant of the town, it is, on the contrary, true that he was not the first actual settler here. It is indeed strange to say that the people who were to become finally the conquerors of the soil of Wheatland town : who, in the short space of twelve years' time, were to become the masters of the whole town. politically and otherwise : strange indeed it is, that they were represented by three men, sturdy pioneers, of their own nationality, even before the days of Jack Frazier-men who in truth must be
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classed as the very foremost of the pioneers of the town ; strange it may seem, but such is the fact, and the records of the county attest the fact. What makes it rather more interesting is that, though at the present writing every section of land in the town with the exception of section 36 is owned by Bohemians (Cechs), yet not one of them ever knew that three of their own nation- ality had been the first on the scene to brave the dangers of frontier life. The writer himself was astonished at the discov- ery, insignificant as it may seem; yet, to be frank, it is highly suggestive. The three Bohemians referred to appeared on the scene in about 1854, at the time the town was surveyed by Hardin Nowlin, deputy surveyor. It may be doubtful to say that they were there before that time, but if we admit that Frazier was there in 1855 on a trapping expedition, and if the records of the United States land office go for anything, then it is very probable that when Frazier put in his appearance these men of the Slavic race were there to greet him. The files in the United States land office show that Frazier had filed on land in section 32, in 1857.
John Markovsky, Johan August Botset ( Bocet) and Raimund Pacovsky (Patschovsky) were the first of the Bohemian nation- ality, and in truth the very first settlers in the town of Wheat- land. While it may be advanced that they did not become per- manent settlers for any length of time, they at least perfected their titles, to enable them to transfer their land and secure patents for record. Even after they disposed of their holdings, they remained residents of the county of Rice for a time. Rec- ords show that Pacovsky (Patschovsky) filed on his land April 29, 1856. This parcel, containing 131.27 acres of land, was situ- ated in section 32, north of the north arm of Phelps lake, and neighboring that tract which was a little later taken up by Patrick Cody. While Frazier did not himself file until January 7, 1857, on the other hand Pacovsky conveyed, April 13, 1856. by a warranty deed, all his land in section 32, to Henry Belland, of Dakota county, and later had the tract patented. The fol- lowing extract from the above mentioned warranty deed may prove of interest to our readers: "This indenture, made this thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, between Raimond Patschovsky (Pacovsky), of the county of Rice and territory of Minnesota, part of the first part, and Henry Belland, of the county of Da- kota, said territory, part of the second part.
consideration ...... three hundred dollars ; number of acres, one hundred and thirty-one and twenty-seven hundredthis. in section thirty-two. Witnesses: William Hollinshead. F. Mc- Cormick. Raimund Patschovsky. Signed, sealed and acknowl-
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edged before F. W. McCormick, Notary Public, Rice County." John Markovsky entered land in sections 1 and 2, in January, 1857, and John August Botset (Bocet) entered section 9 in March, 1856, or a month or so before Pacovsky. Botset quit- claimed to Findley McCormick in March of 1856, and Markovsky sold to one, Valentine Pfifu, in 1857. Markovsky placed his patent on record in the year 1860, that is the patent to that tract conveyed by him to Pfifu was patented that year. Whether or not Markovsky is the proper spelling of the name or whether that was the real name, is rather hard to ascertain, inasmuch as it appears by his own spelling that it must have been spelled Markovsky, but in issuing the patent. Uncle Sam ventured the name of Marshovsky, also Bohemian, but in its proper form it would be Marsovsky. It however appears that this man's name was Markovsky, and of course it matters not. Evidently these men took advantage of the first rush, disposed of their stakes to those who came in on the ground floor in 1856 and 1857. There were in all thirty-four filed on land in 1856, the initial year. The number of filings in the following years were as follows: Thirty-seven in 1857, seven in 1858, two in 1859. fifteen in 1860, four in 1861, one in 1864, one in 1865, five in 1866, five in 1867, one in 1868, and one in 1869, or a total of 117 between the years 1856 and 1869, a space of fourteen years' time. By that time the land was pretty nearly all taken up save a few places, of which some were not very desirable, while others were indeed very choice.
The principal settlers of the town, and those who laid the foundation of it, were the ones who came in 1856 and 1857. The majority of the thirty-four to forty settlers were, as we have said before, Scotch-Irish. while a fairly good number were French-Canadian. Among those pioneers who came to stay, to build up, the names of the following deserve honorable men- tion: David S. McCormick, in section 24; John P. Cook, in section 17: Mathew Everson, in section 17: Jeremiah Wilson, in section 17. These were the only four to precede, by a few days, the three Bohemian settlers, Then, in order, follow the names of Patrick Cody. Thomas Lambert, Louis Plaisance, John Clouthier, whose brother afterwards married the widow of Jack Frazier: then Battice ( Baptiste) Bushman, Thomas Browne, James Lynn, Henry Belland. John Faulkner, David Valentine. Charles Smith, John Taylor, Thomas McCormick, Titus Bun- nell, Nelson P. Marsh, Barnabas Durham (Barney Derham). Augustus Martin, Peter O'Bryan, Thomas Barrett, Patrick Quirk, Lewis Martin, Andrew Thompson, John Lynch, Joseph Martin, John Brown, Octave Caron. Joseph Kartak, John Lapic. James Pavek, Joseph Kutak, and others who decided to stay
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and bear the brunt of the burden for civilization's sake. Of these, Henry Belland, who has the distinction of being the sec- ond actual settler, coming with Frazier, does not appear to have taken any actual, local personal interest in the development of the town. It is, however, possible that he has aided materi- ally, being in time a man of considerable property and means. He did not make Wheatland his home, as did the others named. but lived at Mendota, in Dakota county. Further inquiry as to his interests in the beginnings of Wheatland town lead us to make this additional foregoing statement in regard to him. and his taking out a claim and his subsequent proving up of the same for the purpose of obtaining title.
From the time of the survey of the town in 1854, to 1858, in four years, nearly seventy people came to establish permanent homes. It therefore became necessary to perfect some form of government, and to carry on the civil business of the commun- ity. Whether or not any form of government was perfected and operated during the territorial days in 1856 and 1857 can not very well be ascertained, since, if anything was done along that line during those two years, in the way of civil government, no records are in existence to attest the fact. It would seem highly probable that nothing was done in 1856, and also very probable that in 1857 no more could have been done than a mere sug- gestion at organization, which might have been postponed to the next year, 1858. These inferences are made from the point of view that these people were not really negligent or ignorant. as they had later given satisfactory evidence of their ability and willingness, in the year 1858, when the state of Minnesota was admitted to the Union, and, in compliance with the law, organ- ized the town by holding their first election on May 11, 1858. and thus gave evidence of their intelligence by their proceed- ings, which are preserved to the present day, and which are
regarded by the present generation as a valuable possession. When we consider that these people were not more than a year and a half in the town, then it is almost safe to say that they had hardly organized for purposes of government, but post- poned their organization until after the admission of the state to the union, which to them must have been a certainty. Hence. it would possibly be fair to say that no local, territorial records are to be found of Wheatland town, as none were undoubtedly kept.
In the year 1858 and the early part of 1859 some very valu- able accessions were made to the then hopeful population of the town. Murdoch McLennon. James Willoughby, Jabez W. Flavel, John Montour and Thomas Horner, and later Michael Fitzpatrick, were among those who had come to the land of
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opportunity and who had made a determined and lasting stand.
We have made some mention of the organizing of the town, and of the first meeting. It is not to be presumed that these sturdy pioneers were men who could handle the quill, but rather it is to be presumed that they had a natural aversion, every single blessed one of them, to such things, and that their inclina- tion was probably more naturally toward the handling of the broad-axe. In spite of the fact, and in due respect to their blessed memory, it will perhaps prove interesting reading to follow them, in part, through their proceedings in the discharge of their governmental functions.
Following is an exact copy of the proceedings had at the first town meeting of the town of Wheatland: At the first town meeting, held at the house of John B. Bushmans, in the town of Wheatland, county of Rice, state of Minnesota, on the 11th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. the following number of votes were cast, 26 in all ware as. Titus Bunnell received 26 for chairman of supervisors ; Barnabas Durham, for supervisor, 26; Augustus Martin, for supervisor, 25; Patrick Cody, justice of the peace, 26; John Taylor, justice of the peace, 26; Peter O'Bryan, town clerk, 26; Lewis Pleasant, collector, 25, not excepted; Patrick Quirk, assessor, 25; Lewis Martin, overseer of the poor. 26; Andrew Thompson, constable, 24, not excepted ; Thomas Riley. constable, 26; John Lynch, overseer of roads, 26; James Wilson, overseer of roads, 26; Joseph Martin, overseer of roads. 26; John Brown, overseer of roads, 26, not excepted. This is to certify that this is a true copy of the election. Sind by F. W. Flavel, Moderator; Patrick Cody, Clirk pro tem.
We notice that the collector elect and one of the constables failed to accept the trust conferred upon them, as did one of the road masters. It appears that the people were satisfied to get along with one constable, hence no appointment was made for the vacancy ; neither did they bother about the appointment of an extra overseer of roads, inasmuch as there really were no roads to oversee ; but a collector must be had, and Caleb Vincent was appointed. There appears, however, to have been no limit to the appointive powers that were, and consequently the ap- pointment of an extra constable was deemed advisable, so on June 7 J. W. Flavel was appointed.
In strict compliance with the law the first meeting was held accordingly, that is, on May 11, 1858. Having elected Titus Bunnell, Barnabas Durham ( Barney Derham) and Augustus Martin, as the board of town supervisors, with Mr. Bunnell in the chair: and one of the many and singular duties of the town board of supervisors is to "lay out roads," the existence of which
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was not very much in evidence in the town at the time of said election, and the first meeting of the town board; it therefore becomes the good citizens to petition their town board to lay out a certain road, which in their humble opinion would be a great "publick benefit." Consequently a petition was presented to the board of town supervisors, undoubtedly filed in the office of the "town clirk," dated July 16, 1858, that is about two months after the first election. Nothing slow about our worthy prede- cessors.
Following is an exact copy of the petition referred to, which was of course granted, and which is in itself a valuable bit of history, as it is this petition that established the first public highway in this town: "Wheatland & Scotch Settlement Road. July 16/58. To the Supervisors of the Town of Wheatland. Gentlemen : We the undersigned do respectfully Represent that the laying out of the following proposed Road would bee a great publick benefit. Commensing at the north east corner of Sec- tion Nineteen and running in a north East direction, throug sexion Seventeen to Sexion line between Sexion Nine and Six- teen, thence east on the line or as near as practable to the Town line. Peter O'Bryan, F. W. Flavel, Pk. Cody, John Taylor, Joseph Valentine, Charles Orr, Edward Moad, John Falcner, Murdoc McLennon, James Giblin, John Lynch, Michael Fitz- patrick.
The people of Wheatland early planned a town site, which is still on file at the court house. The original plat is all worn out and very much incomplete, so that it is very hard to make ont much of it, except to see just where the town site was. The names of the founders of this primitive village of Wheatland are all worn off from the plat and are unrecognizable, so it must be only surmised that the same people we have here enumerated have been the founders of the "Village of Wheatland," in the territory of Minnesota. The village was located on the south shore of Metoggha lake, lying in sections 19, 20 and 29. It was beautifully laid out, containing sixty-one full blocks, one of which was an admirably located public square, and, in addition to the sixty-one full blocks, there were four half blocks, added, presumably, to augment the usefulness of the public square. The streets were numbered, beginning with number one, and lettered from "A" to "K." There were altogether eleven cross streets. This was surely an ideal spot for a town, and it is to be greatly regretted that this foundation did not stick. The place is so ideal a spot that even in later times, when there was not the slightest trace of the spot ever having been laid out for a town, the attractiveness of the place suggested a name, which an enthusiastic "Pedagogue" had bestowed upon it, and by
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which it is known to the present day. It was in the year 1902 that this place received its new name, that of Willow Grove. The author of that name often wondered at the extreme at- tractiveness of the spot, never dreaming that that was the spot, the very place, where the history of the town began, where the primitive struggle for existence had its birth.
These primitive records are not altogether complete and ac- curate, but are in themselves unique and interesting. The first meeting of the board of town supervisors was held at the house of P. O'Bryan, and a considerable amount of business transacted. Among other things, the supervisors made final road orders, approved the surveyors' reports and filed same with the "town clirk." The first road petitioned for was named "The Wheat- land & Lexington Road," and the other retained the original designation, "The Scotch Settlement Road." Two more roads were laid out in the meantime; they were the "Wheatland and Northfield Road" and "The Wheatland and Shieldsville Road," also designated as "The Le Sueur, Wheatland and Shieldsville Road." The town was divided formally into road districts, and vacancies in offices were duly filled by appointments. Qualifi- cations were duly filed and approved, etc. It has been elsewhere stated on authority, "that the records of the first town meeting are, to use a legal term, non est inventus, but that the minutes of the next meeting in 1859 are preserved." To this we take an exception, and suggest that the author of the foregoing would have done justice to himself if he had either revised his Latin or increased his energy and ability in securing evidence which would have afforded him the accurate data.
We are now approaching the time of the second election, and therefore think it appropriate to record a copy of an act which was the first of its kind, that is the resignation of the head of the board of town supervisors. Titus Bunnell resigned as chair- man September 27, 1858, and his place was not filled until the following election.
As the proceedings of the second meeting are wholly as inter- esting as those of the first, and, from a historical standpoint. equally as important and valuable. and as we desire to use them in full for the closing chapter of an interesting beginning in the civil affairs of our town, a copy of them should prove of passing interest to our readers; hence we take the liberty to insert them verbatim.
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