USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 75
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 75
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The first reaper used in the southern part of Steele county was purchased by Joseph Branning, who drew his wheat to Winona, sold it at forty-five cents per bushel and paid some $300 for his reaper-a "McCormick hand-rake." The grain was all cut with oxen. The drivers would change teams about every two rounds in an ordinary field, the chain being dropped and another team put on in about the twinkle of an eye. I remember one day we cut twenty acres in the German settlement in Aurora, then moved four miles and started in to cut a field for William John- son after dark. About ten o'clock we struck a stump, broke a guard and had to leave the field till daylight. While in the Ger- man settlement the reaper was followed by about twenty binders. Most of them would twist the band like a hay rope, put the rope on the ground, take up the gavel, place it on the band, then tie it very firmly. Among the binders was a German girl of about sixteen or seventeen years. I took the liberty to leave the reaper a moment to show the girl how Yankees made the band and bound the bundle. She got the knack very quickly and in a short time was one of the fastest binders in the field. When cutting on the prairie, near where the village of Blooming Prairie now stands, we had one lively day. We commenced cutting for William Thorburn in the morning, and as we had to change teams often Mr. Thornborn, or "Billy," as he was called, said he would put his team on a while. He took the driver's seat, whip
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in hand and started. As soon as the reels began to play. the oxen began to go, and as the reels began to go fast the oxen tried to go faster and left a cloud of dust behind them, D. T. Pettie raking off grain with a vengeance. After going about eighty rods "Dave" thought he had grain enough on the platform. so he threw the machine out of gear. That brought on a heavy side draft, which threw the cattle in the grain and left a large circle of down grain uncut. Before noon the steers thought they had rather stand still than go. In the afternoon we were cutting for William Greene, where the cemetery now is. Mr. Greene, "Little Billy," as he was called, had "imbibed" quite freely. Levi Annis came with his oxen to put on the reaper when needed. . "Little Billy" had some old grudge against Annis. He wouldn't have Annis or his oxen on his farm. Mr. Annis insisted that he was hired by Mr. Branning to help run the harvester, and he was going to stay. Words brought blows, and blows brought bloody noses before Mr. Branning could reach the field to quell the row.
About the first of October, 1856, a terrific prairie fire came sweeping over the country from the southwest and burnt over several counties. Among the sufferers was a family by the name of Lake. Report soon reached our settlement that Mr. Lake and son were badly burned and needed help. Stephen Sargent, one of the first settlers of Aurora, volunteered to take his oxen and carry all that would go to complete Mr. Lake's house, which was in course of erection. I think Charles Adsit, G. W. Grim- shaw. John Perham, John Ball and several others were in the party. The distance was ten or twelve miles, but we arrived quite early and found other neighbors there, so we made quite an improvement to his home. Mr. Lake's place was in the eastern part of Westfield, Dodge county. During the fire he and his son were out on the prairie with their oxen and wagon. The fire came rushing on with a tremendous roar and overtook them. The boy fell by suffocation into the flames and the father sprang to his rescue. Both were terribly burned.
The first log house erected in the township of Blooming Prairie was by John Blythe. The first frame building was Bracket's Station, the lumber being hauled from St. Paul. The first frame dwelling house was C. B. Pettit's. The first enlist- ment from Blooming Prairie was that of David T. Pettit, in Company F. Third Minnesota Infantry. The first town meeting of Aurora was held in the spring of 1857. at the house of A. B. Clark. At that early day there was considerable strife for the town offices, especially for that of supervisor, as everybody wanted a road, to get the travel to pass their door. I was sent out quite late in the day, to gather up a load of Germans that were living in the northeast part of the town. I started in post-
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haste almost without a track. I could not speak a word of German, and they could hardly speak a word of English; but by signs and motions I gathered up nearly a wagon-box full. I stood up and drove while they sat in the bottom, and of all thumping a set of men ever got, fell to that lot of men, for I went over grub-land, across marshes and through timber at a rapid rate. But I "fetched" in and reached the polls three minutes before closing time. How they voted I never knew, and I don't believe they ever did, for there was hauling and pulling, grabbing and talking, as they were hurried to the ballot- box, with a ticket in each hand.
The next schoolhouse was located on section 25. It was 10x 12x51/2 feet high, with a sod roof. Here the first school was held in the township, Hattie Leighton, later Mrs. J. C. Carey, teacher. This was in the summer of 1862. This house was used for meetings, Sabbath schools and the like, until 1866, when the settlement had increased and they called for a larger house. Then came the strife for another location. This time it was pulled to the west and planted on the northwest quarter of section 26-land owned by Andrew Meehan. This time they built a larger log house, size 16x20 feet, with board roof. The town was divided into two school districts, running north and south, known as the McDaniel district and the Prairie district. This house, being so large, was used for quarterly meetings, clections, political meetings and almost all other kinds of meet- ings. The village of Blooming Prairie was laid out in 1868, and in 1869 was too proud to look toward a log schoolhouse, but built a substantial frame house, which stood on the ground now occupied by the Episcopal Church.
The village grew and the scholars became more numerous. Then they called for the present brick structure, which is an ornament and an honor to any town. Thus we see the old log house giving way for something better. We also see the old pioneer giving way for the rising generation, and may they go on until they are as far in advance as the brick and stone struc- tures are ahead of the "old sod-roofed schoolhouse" that once decked the prairie of Blooming.
AURORA TOWNSHIP.
Aurora township forms one of the eastern tier of townships in the county, and is bounded on the north by Havana town- ship, on the south by Blooming Prairie township, on the west by Somerset, and on the east by Dodge county. The soil here is made up of a rich dark loam, which is very fertile. In carly days considerable of the land here was marshy and wet, but in
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later years this has been making the most profitable and pro- ductive farming land in the county. The other portions of the township are made up chiefly of oak openings, interspersed with fine tracts of prairie land, just enough undulating to make it of easy tillage.
The first settlement in Aurora township was made on May 19, 1856, at which time quite a party came and selected govern- ment land. The party consisted of Charles and A. C. Adsit, George W. and B. J. Grimshaw, John Ball and John Perham. When this party arrived in Aurora, May 19, 1856, there was not a single settler within the limits which now comprise the town- ship. The only traces of settlement was a little piece of break- ing on the southeast quarter of section 27. A stage driver named Baker had taken a claim there early in the spring of 1856, but had made no settlement. His, it is thought, was the first claim taken in the township, and the only one prior to the arrival of the "Adsit party."
About all of the government land was taken during the sum- mer of 1856 and the town filled with settlers very rapidly. But very little was raised in the way of crops and vegetables, only a little sod corn and potatoes, and Charles Adsit sowed a little patch of land to oats. A severe hailstorm visited this portion of the county in August of this year, and proved disastrous in many instances to the few fields sown. Among others who set- tled in this township during the years 1856 and 1857 the follow- ing are remembered: A. B. Clark, John George, Henry and J. S. Bixby, Oscar King, S. A. Sargent, Hon. Amos Coggswell, August Miller, Christopher Dickinson, I. D. Beeman, Hon. G. C. Pettie, Moses Bentley, David Bentley, Mr. Hoggerfield, William Deppin, F. Kruckerberg, Rufus Waterman, the Stapletons, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Grover, Mr. Montgomery, H. Eastman and Mr. Barrett, besides a number of Germans.
The first birth in the township was that of G. E. Dickinson, a son of Christopher Dickinson and wife, born February 23, 1857. The second birth occurred on the 6th of March, 1857, when Helen, a daughter, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Amos Coggs- well. The first marriage of residents of the township was that of David Bentley to Jane Hill, which occurred as carly as 1858. The couple borrowed Mr. Stapleton's yoke of oxen and went to Owatonna, where the ceremony was performed. Another carly marriage was that of Joseph Branning and Laura Pettic, July 7, 1861. They were married in Winona county. The first death was that of Mrs. Stephen A. Sargent, which occurred on Sep- tember 1, 1856. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. Harvey Chapin. This was the first religious service in the township. The first school was taught in the summer of 1858,
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in a log schoolhouse near Amos Coggswell's, by Jane Arnold, afterward Mrs. W. Odell, of Owatonna.
Charles Adsit and G. W. Grimshaw built the first house and did the first breaking in the township. The house was built on Charles Adsit's land. The breaking began on the line between their claims. The first postoffice in the township was estab- lished at the residence of Charles Adsit in September, 1856, under the name of Aurora. It was moved into Oak Glen town- ship, now Blooming Prairie township, then back to Mr. Adsit's place and was finally located at Aurora Station. Charles Adsit planted the first corn and potatoes in the township. Pratt post- office was established later.
When Steele county was organized, in the summer of 1855, the territory which now forms the eastern tier of townships was a part of Dodge county, and it did not become connected with Steele county until February, 1856. On April 6, 1857, the board of county commissioners set off township 106, range 19, named it Aurora, and authorized its organization. The first election was held at the house of A. B. Clark on section 22. The organization of the township was not fully perfected until May 11, 1858, when a full set of officers were elected.
One incident in relation to detaching this tier of townships from Dodge and annexing it to Steele county is remembered. The territory was annexed to Steele county in February, 1856, and in the winter of 1856-7 Dodge county parties came through Aurora with a petition, asking that the territory be re-attached to Dodge. About all the citizens of Aurora refused to sign the petition, but at the following session of the legislature the same petition was presented and, strange to say, it appeared signed by nearly all the citizens of Aurora, some one having forged them. The official history of the township has been uneventful, the offices having without exception always been filled by capable and honest men.
CHAPTER VII.
THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
Biographies of All the Practitioners of Law in Steele County by the Hon. W. A. Sperry-the Bench-Hon. N. M. Don- aldson-Hon. Samuel Lord-Hon. Thomas S. Buckham- Life, Education and Services of Scores of Distinguished Men.
My only regret in writing this history is that the lot had not fallen to one better able or more worthy to chronicle in miniature the biographies of the members of the bench and bar of this county.
There is no class of men in any community that takes a more vital interest in the affairs of the public, or that is so well equipped to render valuable service to the public, as the trained lawyers. Nor is there any class upon which the public lays greater claims, or that it has a right to expect more from. Law is a rule of action laid down for the guidance of the citizens in their relation to each other and the body politic, and is based upon the eternal principles of right. More correctly speaking, law, as commonly understood in the forum, is the human inter- pretation of the Divine will as applied to mankind. This inter- pretation is complete or faulty, according to the ability of the interpreter to read the Divine will. Hence the study and prac- tice of law necessarily draws one to the study and application of the principles of right living and acting, and demonstrates the absolute folly of any other course. The lawyer is almost daily brought into contact with the penalties men have to pay. both in the business, physical and moral world. for the lack of obedi- ence to law, that is to the principles of right The axiom of law that "ignorance of the law excuses no man," can be justified only upon the principle that law is based upon right and that every man knows intuitively what is right.
The honesty of lawyers is often the subject of jest, but I aver without fear of contradiction that no men in any commu- nity, as a class, have a higher moral standard or live closer to it, or are more respected and trusted by the community, or are more worthy of it than the lawyers. I am not speaking of them in their relation to the state, but in the narrower field of their relation to their fellow citizens as citizens. In the broader field of their relation to the state, they stand without rivals, and that
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too, whether considered from the standpoint of the framers of the constitutions or the expounders and preservers of them. There is no field of labor that tends more to strengthen one's mental and moral grasp, or broaden one's vision than the prac- tice of law. A practitioner must look upon all sides of a ques- tion ; if he does not his apponent will, and will at once have him at a disadvantage. In a lawyer, more perhaps than in any other class of men, are honesty, sincerity and character essential. Men will excuse mediocrity, will overlook mistakes, forgive blunders, butt they never forget or forgive dishonesty. Let it once become known that a lawyer is dishonest with his clients and his capital is gone, his friends disappear and his office becomes vacant.
The lawyer's life is a strenuous one; he must not only carry his own burdens and sorrows, but must share and lighten so far as possible his clients. The poet says,
"The lawyer leads a harassed life, Much like a hunted otter ; Between his own and other strife, He's always in hot water."
The philospher says, "A lawyer works harder, lives better and dies poorer than any other class of men."
THE BENCH.
Hon. N. M. Donaldson, the first judge of the district court of this county was born at Cambridge, Washington county, New York, November 12, 1809. His parents were James and Christy Mills Donaldson. His father was from the north of Ireland and his mother from Scotland. At the age of four the subject of this sketch lost his father and went to live with his mother's brother. At the age of sixteen he began to teach school in winter, working on the farm summers. He taught for four years, one of which was in the state of New Jersey. He then attended school at Salem academy. In 1840 he went to the then west, Haysville, Richland county, Ohio, where he con- tinued teaching school and took up the reading of law with Thomas W. Bartley, who afterwards became supreme judge of Ohio. Judge Donaldson was admitted to the bar in 1843 at Mansfield, Ohio and in 1846 when the county was divided, he removed to Londonville, Ohio, and was elected prosecuting attorney for the new county. In 1849 he again migrated west- ward, going to Waupin, Wisconsin, where he at once became active in politics. He was soon elected chairman of the board of supervisors and was a member of the legislature from 1851
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to 1855. In the year 1856 he came to Owatonna and continued the practice of law till the autumn of 1857, when he was elected judge of the fifth judicial district. He was re-elected again in 1864, holding the office for the term of fourteen years, when he was succeeded on the bench by Hon. Samuel Lord, of Mantor- ville, Minnesota. At the time Judge Donaldson was elected judge, the district was composed of the following counties, viz: Dodge, Mower, Freeborn, Steele, Waseca, Rice and Scott.
Railroads were things of the future and public highways, as we know them now, were not known and oftentimes as he went from one county to another to hold the terms of the court, after paying his fare on the stage Judge Donaldson was com- pelled to walk many miles and sometimes also to carry poles or levers to help the stage out of the mud, or the snow drifts. At one time, on his way home from Austin, after a bitter cold trip, the party in which he was included arrived at the usual dinner place to find nothing but boiled corn beef and dried apple sauce. But even that was better than cold air, so they thought. After eating heartily they started out to complete the trip, only to find the snow banks rolling mountain high, in imitation of old ocean. Soon all on board were paying the tribute to Mother Earth, that usually goes to old Neptune and the historian suggests the question of whether or not the large apple orchards and herds of stock of southern Minnesota may not have sprung up from these seeds scattered by the way-side. The passengers were all like the old man in the sad rhyme,
"There was a young man of Ostend Who hoped to hold out to the end, But when half way over From Calais to Dover, He done what he didn't intend."
The convention that nominated Judge Donaldson's successor was probably the longest and the most hotly contested of any that ever took place in southern Minnesota. It lasted for sev- eral days and several hundred ballots were taken with prac- tically the same results, the contestants being Judge Donald- son, Samuel Lord, and a man by the name of Case from Rice County. The contest was continued until Judge Donaldson- withdrew and Samuel Lord of Mantorville was nominated.
At the close of Judge Donaldson's fourteen years of service on the bench, the bar of the district gathered at a banquet at the Arnold llouse of this city to pay tribute to his sterling character. to his large fund of common sense and to his absolute impar- tiality. Judge Donaldson would hardly be called a great lawyer
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as we understand the term today, but his absolute honesty, his desire always to do the right thing, his broard common sense, made him not only a model, but a successful judge. The writer will never forget one tribute paid him by Gen. Gordon E. Cole at the banquet. He said, "If cases affirmed by the highest tribunal in the state is the touchstone of success, then Judge Donaldson has indeed been successful, for no judge in the state has had, proportionately, more cases affirmed and fewer re- versed than he." After his retirement from the bench, he took up the practice of law though he never became very active in it, in Owatonna, where he continued to reside, participating in any movement that had for its object the betterment of the city, up to the time of his death which occurred in this city on February 7, 1879. His widow, Mrs. Emily S. Donaldson and one daugh- ter, Mary R. Donaldson, survive him and have for many years been residents of Oakland, California.
Hon. Samuel Lord. The next judge of this district, Samuel Lord, was admitted to the bar at Rochester, Minn., in 1856, was elected judge of this district in 1871 and re-elected again in 1878, holding office to the time of his death at Mantorville, Minn., Feb- ruary 12. 1880. He was a son of Enoch and Eleanor Warren Lord, and a descendant of an old Connecticut family, now scat- tered throughout the New England, middle and most of the west- ern states. He was born at Meadville, Penn., July 26, 1831, and continued there until his majority, his father, a farmer, dying when Judge Lord was fourteen years of age. He received his education at the local college, taking special studies without graduation and teaching school for one or two years. After read- ing law with Joshua Douglas, in his native place, Judge Lord came to Minnesota in 1856, practiced in Marion, Olmstead county, for three years, and represented that county in the legis- lature in the session of 1857-58. In the following year he removed to Mantorville, Dodge county, continuing to practice, except when on the bench, until 1876, when he removed to Faribault. He was the state senator from Dodge and Mower counties in 1866, 1867, 1870 and 1871, serving as chairman of the judiciary committee of that body during three of these sessions. In 1871 he was elected judge for seven years, and was re-elected in No- vember, 1878. 1Ie died at Mantorville February 12, 1880.
Hon. Thomas S. Buckham. At the death of Judge Lord, Hon. Thomas S. Buckham of Faribault was appointed to fill the va- cancy by Governor Pillsbury on February 21. 1880. He was elected to the same office in the fall of 1880 and again in 1886, 1892, 1898, and 1904. It will be seen that this district has had but three judges.
Thomas S. Buckham was born in Chelsea, Orange county,
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Vermont, January 7, 1835. He was the son of a clergyman who fitted him for the university of Vermont. In this institution he took a full classical course and graduated in August, 1855, many years later receiving the degree of LL. D. He came to Minnesota in September, 1856, and was admitted to the bar in Rice county in the spring of 1857. Subsequently formed a part- nership with Hon. Geo. W. Bacheler and entered upon the prac- tice of law in the city of Faribault, continuing the prac- tice and the partnership up to the time of his appointment as judge in 1880. Judge Buckham has just completed thirty years on the bench of this district, a period that covers most of the important litigation of this county and that has witnessed the passing from the field of active practice here of most of the members of the bar of this county that were such when he went upon the bench. Messers. W. F. and J. A. Sawyer, M. B. Chad- wick, H. E. Johnson, and the writer are the only ones left so far as I remember. These thirty years on the bench have given Judge Buckham an experience that comes to but few men and that, coupled with a trained and absolutely impartial legal mind and combined with a tireless energy that never permits any matter before him to hang fire, has made him one of the foremost judges of the state.
THE BAR.
Hon. George W. Green. The first lawyer to settle in Steele county and commence practice here was doubtless Hon. George W. Green. He came from Wisconsin and settled in Owatonna, in 1854, afterward locating at Clinton Falls on a farm. Subse- quently in 1857 he bought the Clinton Flouring Mills. Judge Green, as he came to be generally known throughout Steele county, obtained his title from holding the office of county judge in Dodge county, Wisconsin. After purchasing the mill at Clinton Falls he divided his time between running the mill and his farm, and practicing law. He was a man of great energy and perseverance and much above the ordinary man in ability He was a forcible debater and the man that met him in the trial of a law suit had to be on guard every moment. The scattering of his forces between farming, milling and practising law soon took him out of the list of active practitioners, as his attention to other matters soon made it impossible to so study the questions which came before him as to be able to maintain himself in the contests of the forum. He learned what many another man has learned, that there is only one way to succeed as a lawyer, and that is to give one's undivided attention to the study and practice of the profession. His opponents of the legal pro- fession were Hon. Amos Coggswell and W. R. Kinyon. Judge
THE NET ToMY
AMOS COGGSWELL
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Green was a candidate for the nomination of judge at the organ- ization of the bench in this district in 1857, but the nomination was won away from him by Judge Donaldson. He and Amos Coggswell represented this district in the legislature and made a very strong delegation there. It is questionable whether any other district in the state, then had or since has had a stronger delegation or one better equipped than they were to debate the many intricate questions before the legislature. Mr. Coggswell was made speaker of the house. Judge Green did very little practice in Steele counties after the seventies, giving most of his time to his farm and mill. In 1880 he moved to Salimas, Cal., where he remained until the time of his death some years later.
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