History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 964

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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

It rapidly gained a wide circulation (having in its second year six thousand subscribers) and great influence.

In 1850 she paid her first visit to Washington, where she remained for some time, there meeting Colonel Benton, Henry Clay, Senators Chase and Hale and others of the Whig and anti-slavery leaders. During this time she corresponded regularly with Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, and from Washington wrote a letter to the Visiter regarding the personal habits of Daniel Webster, then a candidate for the presidency, which attracted much attention but drew forth no reply.

Women's rights conventions had their beginning in these days. Mrs. Swisshelm was invited to attend and preside over the second, which was held in April, 1850, at Salem, Ohio, but declined. She did attend one held at Akron, Ohio, in May of the following year, but failed to find anything that was inspiring in its proceedings. She described it as being "so much more ridiculous than ridicule, so much more absurd than absurdity." The so-called "bloomer" costume for women, named for a Mrs. Bloomer, editor of a little paper published at Syracuse, N. Y., had a limited vogue, receiving, however, the favor of so wise a woman as Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who believed that in the matter of dress lay the remedy for all the ills that womankind was heir to. Mrs. Swisshelm, after giving the costume a brief trial, discarded it. About the only result from its use she found was to give the opponents of women's rights the opportunity of saying that what they most wanted was to "wear the pantaloons." Mrs. Swisshelm was not at that time an advocate of female suffrage, she thought it would- be a hindrance rather than a help to the end she had most at heart. "The government," she said, "is now struggling under the ballots of ignorant, irresponsible men," and "must have gone down under the additional burden of the votes which would have been thrown upon it by millions of ignorant, irresponsible women." Her advice to women was "not to weaken their cause by impracticable demands," to "take one step at a time, get a good foothold in it and advance carefully," and that "suffrage in municipal elections for property holders who could read and had never been connected with crime was the place to strike for the ballot. Say nothing about suffrage elsewhere until it is proved successful here." Her own married experience impressed her with the necessity for a determined struggle to secure for women a legal recognition of their rights to a decent if not an equal share in what she had jointly contributed to produce. In 1859 in a suit brought in a Pittsburgh court by a local tradesman to collect from her husband a bill for some articles of women's wear sold to her, the judge charged the jury as follows: "If a wife have no dress and her husband refuses to provide one she may purchase one-a plain dress-not silk or lace or any extravagance; if she have no shoes she may get a pair; if she be sick and he refuse to employ a physician she may send for one and get the medicine he may prescribe; and for these necessaries the husband is liable, but here his liability ceases." As the merchant could not testify that at the time Mrs. Swisshelm made her purchases she "had no dress," he lost his case. It seems incredible in view of woman's present legal rights that any such condition as that outlined above could ever have existed in any state in this country,

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

let alone a state as far along in the march of progress and as high in the scale of intelligence as Pennsylvania.

Through the inefficiency of its business manager, the Visiter became so badly involved financially that it was sold to the Pittsburgh Journal and united with that paper, Mrs. Swisshelm continuing in an editorial capacity. The conditions of her married life no longer being tolerable, she left Pittsburgh in the spring of 1857, with her little daughter and only child, arriving at St. Cloud June 7. Very soon afterwards she became the proprietor of the Minne- sota Advertiser, which had been established at the beginning of that year, but had not been financially successful. Her radical anti-slavery utterances brought her into antagonism with powerful political influences, and on the night of March 24, 1858, the office in which the newspaper plant was located was broken into and the type and a part of the press with which the paper was printed thrown into the Mississippi river. The citizens of the place, without respect to party, rallied to her support and purchased an entirely new outfit, which was placed at her disposal and the publication of the paper was resumed. A suit being brought against the printing company for certain utterances claimed to be libelous, Mrs. Swisshelm assumed the ownership of the paper, changed the name from the Visiter to the Democrat and continued its publication. She was hampered by many difficulties, especially in the matter of efficient help, and herself did a part of the mechanical work in the office.

In January, 1863, Mrs. Swisshelm went to Washington City and soon afterwards became engaged in work in the government hospitals, although having had no previous experience in nursing. But her good sense, her good judgment and her sympathy with the sick and wounded soldiers sent in from the field of battle or from the camp for treatment made her services of great value, and the sufferers, who came to regard her as a mother as much as a nurse ministering to them in their need, acquired a deep affection for her. Taking a very brief vacation in September to return to St. Cloud and com- plete the sale of her newspaper plant, she continued her hospital service. Her devotion and success here were the subject of much favorable newspaper comment. Among many the following extract from the Philadelphia Dial may be taken as indicative of the others: "Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm is to the Washington hospitals what Florence Nightingale was to the Crimea." After the battle of the Wilderness she went to Fredericksburg, which appeared to be the scene of the greatest need, and engaged in the care of the wounded there. Without salary, without reward of any kind, she persisted in remaining in the hospital work until her strength entirely gave out and for weeks she was herself on a bed of sickness. When sufficiently recovered she took a position in the quartermaster's office in Washington, to which she was appointed by Secretary Stanton, long her personal friend, at a salary of $60 per month, this being her only means of livelihood at the age of fifty years. Even this was soon taken from her by direct order of President Andrew Johnson, who ordered her discharge for "speaking disrespectfully of the president of the United States."

In the early part of 1866 she established in Washington City a paper

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

called the Reconstructionist. Mrs. Patterson, the daughter of President Johnson, was one of its first subscribers in the District of Columbia, although the paper vigorously opposed the president's reconstruction policy. The paper was not a financial success, not having sufficient capital to sustain it until it should become established.

The years between 1866, when she finally left Washington, until her death, which occurred July 21, 1884, were spent at St. Cloud, at Chicago, and at Swissvale, with one year in Europe. While living in Chicago she was the intimate personal friend of the widow of Abraham Lincoln, who was also then making that city her home. It was also while here that her only daughter, Zoe Swisshelm, was married to Ernest L. Allen, a prominent young business man whose home had earlier been in St. Cloud. During this time she was a contributor to a number of leading papers and lectured occasionally on labor problems and other questions of current interest. At this time she became an advocate of woman suffrage, believing that it would be an influence in doing away with many of the evils of intemperance as well as aid in securing to women fuller legal rights. She also wrote a book, "Half a Century," in which was narrated many of the incidents of her eventful life. Some time before a successful suit at law had given her possession of a valuable property at Swissvale, a part of the original homestead, so that her later years were passed in comparative comfort.

The life of Jane Grey Swisshelm was one of absolute self-denial, of unre- served consecration to the welfare of others, whether it was the poor slave, her fellow woman deprived of her just personal and property rights, or the soldier stretched on a bed of suffering. She never stopped to consider the consequences to herself when a matter of principle was involved or she felt that a humanitarian demand was made on her. Her life was a continuous struggle against unjust and oppressive conditions, not only incidentally as they affected herself but in their larger and wider fields of contact with human rights.

In her editorial work she was keen, incisive, logical, witty and ready at repartee. In her earlier career she measured swords with George D. Prentiss, editor of the Louisville Journal, who had a national reputation as a wit, and the general verdict was that she by no means came out second best. She was at home in almost any field of discussion-moral, social, political or religious- although caring little for any in which there was not some principle at stake, and was without doubt the most widely-known woman journalist of her day. Always radical, she believed that the right time to do the right thing was to do it now, an attitude of mind which sometimes led her to injudicious lengths, as when she criticised President Lincoln for revoking General Fremont's order, issued in the early days of the war, confiscating the slaves of rebels in arms. The unusual vigor of her style and her reputation as a controversialist led those who did not know her personally to picture her as bold, masculine, Amazonish, but nothing could be farther from the fact. She was physically slight, even fragile, of less than medium height, with pleasant face, eyes beaming with kindliness, soft voice and winning manners. What was mascu- line was her intellect and her courage. She was aggressive because she was so

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

terribly in earnest. Her heart was tender to the very core, and her sympathies led her to make any personal sacrifice for the welfare of others.

In brilliance of intellect, in the comprehensive grasp of facts, in clear, logical perception, in unswerving devotion to what she believed to be right, in willing service to the individual needs of those in distress, Jane Grey Swisshelm is entitled to a first place in the ranks of woman journalists and of the representatives of true womanhood.

William T. Clark. The sturdy New Englanders have been the subject of song and story, and there are few histories of the subduing of the wilderness in any part of the globe that do not contain the names of the sons of the descendants of the Puritans. The type of old school New England is rapidly passing, but the worth of these men will never be forgotten. Courteous of manner, considerate in bearing, widely informed, and masters of conversa- tional powers, they left their impress on the lives of whatever community they bettered with their presence. Born to the advantages which a community of substantial, educated, God-fearing people affords, many of them risked their lives, their fortunes, their health and their peace of mind in the interests of civilization. Some, pressing gradually westward with the "Star of Empire," found their way to Minnesota, and the influence of their coming has moulded the thought of the more recent influx of population from the countries of Europe. Among these early New England arrivals may be mentioned William T. Clark, the lumberman, who lived in St. Cloud nearly fifty-seven years.

William T. Clark was born in Strong, Franklin county, Maine, September 1, 1830, son of Richard and Hannah (True) Clark, the former of whom, after the death of the latter, came to St. Cloud, and spent his declining years here, dying at the age of seventy-nine. William T. Clark was reared on the home farm, attended the district schools, and was nurtured in the faith of his fathers. Having a mechanical turn of mind, he went to Boston, then the Mecca for all Yankee boys, and there entered the old Boyer Repair Shop on Merrimac street. That was before the days of highly specialized work and elaborate machinery, and young Clark received a thorough insight into all branches of mechanical construction and operation, paying especial attention to wood- working and building. But the wanderlust was in his blood. Horace Greeley was urging young men to go west, Boston was stirred with stories of the possibilities of the upper Mississippi valley. The young man of whom we are writing consequently closed up his affairs and started for Chicago. There he fell in with a group of young railroad men, with whom he went to Aurora. From there he found his way to Galesburg, so soon to become the scene of the never-to-be-forgotten Lincoln-Douglas debate. There he met some young men from Boston. They pooled their interests, and full of youthful enthu- siasm and vigor, opened a general repair shop. This gave them all a valuable business experience which stood them in good stead in after life. But Mr. Clark did not feel that he had yet reached the frontier where his life work was to be done. In 1857 he went back East, married, and with his bride started for the Northwest, reaching St. Cloud after a voyage up the Missis- sippi river. He at once became identified with the woodworking, building and lumber business. To detail his various connections and activities would be

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM T. CLARK

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

to relate the every-day life of a busy man. He erected many of the early houses in the city, he with F. H. Dam had a sash, door and shingle mill. He was connected with Mr. McClure at one time and with Coleman Bridgeman at another in the lumber and manufacturing business. He was associated with N. P. Clarke in various lumber ventures for some twenty years. He had two lumber yards. In the early nineties, his son, Edward Everett, became his partner, and in 1900 he took charge of the business. Mr. Clark spent a part of the year 1879 in Northwood, Iowa, and a part of 1880 in Mandan, N. D. Aside from this, his activities centered in St. Cloud, though he had extensive timber interests elsewhere. Mr. Clark was an active member of the school board for fifteen years. He was a devoted member of the Congregational church. At the time he furnished the facts for this sketch, though in the last months of his life, and in his eighty-third year, he was wonderfully well pre- served, his clean life and his outdoor labors being apparent in his rigorous constitution. For more than half a century he was one of the most notable figures in St. Cloud life. Mr. Clark died October 15, 1913, and the people united in their grief at their loss, and praise of his character. He was widely known and universally respected. He impressed all with a feeling of his absolute honesty and uprightness. He was quiet and reserved in manner, but his convictions were strong and deep and guided by a mature judgment. The death of such a man leaves the city poorer.

Mr. Clark was married March 1, 1857, to Caroline M. McCleary, born in Strong, Maine, October 6, 1833, daughter of William and Sally (Hunter) MeCleary. Coming to St. Cloud in 1857, the kindly, gracious presence of Mrs. Clark has influenced the church and social life of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were gladdened by the birth of seven children: Hannah A., Susan M., George R., Edward E., Carrie C., True W., and Theodore (deceased). Susan M. married William Tait, and they have an adopted daughter, Florence. George R., a St. Cloud jeweler, married Alice Brooks, of Chicago, and they have three children, Harry B., Carol, and Helen A. Edward Everett, a St. Cloud lumberman, married Annie Mitchell, and they have one child, Catherine. Carrie C. married B. F. Carter, a St. Cloud druggist, and they have one daughter, Helen. True W. married Inis Snow. . They have a son, John, and live in Los Angeles, California.

The ancestry of Mrs. William T. Clark is most interesting. John Hunter moved from his home a few miles from Ayr, Scotland, in 1656, and settled in County Londonderry, in the northern part of Ireland. There he erected a stone mansion which still remains in the family. Henry Hunter, son of John, was born in this stone mansion, in 1676, and married Nancy Kennedy. Several of their descendants became founders of American families, distinguished in many lines. Henry (2) was the youngest of the children of Henry and Nancy (Kennedy) Hunter. He was born in the same stone mansion as his father, and came to America before the French war. For a time he engaged in trade with his nephew. With his own vessel he carried troops to Quebec when it was taken by General Wolfe. Once his ship was captured by the British, but the commander was an old schoolmate, and not only released him and his ship, but gave him a paper which protected him from seizure in the future. This

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

Henry Hunter married Sarah Wyer, who came from Londonderry, Ireland. The ceremony was performed under the Old Elm on Boston Common. Four years later she died and was buried in the cemetery on Boston Common. Later, in 1760, he married another lady of the same name, from Londonderry, New Hampshire. Then he settled in Bristol, Maine. His son, David Hunter, was a pioneer of Strong, Maine. He died May 7, 1871, at the age of ninety- eight years. In 1796 he had married Eleanor Fossett, a daughter of Henry Fossett, of Bristol, Maine. One of the daughters of David and Eleanor (Fossett) Hunter was Sally Hunter. She married William McCleary, and their daughter was Caroline M. McCleary, who married William T. Clark.

Edward Everett Clark, proprietor of the Clark Lumber Company, St. Cloud, was born in the city where he still resides, June 3, 1864, son of William T. and Caroline M. (McCleary) Clark, the pioneers. He received his early education in the schools of his native city, and was graduated in 1884 from the Minneapolis Business College. Then he became manager and accountant for Franklin Benner, manufacturer of gas and electric fixtures, at Minneapolis. At the end of eight years he returned to St. Cloud, and became associated with his father in the lumber business. Since the death of his father he has been sole owner. He carries a full line of lumber and other building materials, and during business hours is always to be found at the store. He is one of the active and progressive men of the Granite City, and is well adapted to his chosen line of endeavor. Fraternally he is a member of St. Cloud Lodge, No. 516, B. P. O. E. Mr. Clark was united in marriage June 5, 1898, to Annie J. Mitchell, of Medelia, Minnesota, and they have one daughter, Catherine M., a student in the St. Cloud High School. Mr. Clark and his family attend the Presbyterian church. The residence is at 321 Fourth avenue, South.

George R. Clark, jeweler and optometrist, is one of St. Cloud's busy busi- ness men. He was born in St. Cloud, August 14, 1861, son of William T. and Caroline M. (McCleary) Clark, the pioneers. He passed through the com- mon, the Union and the High schools of St. Cloud, and served four years as an apprentice watchmaker and jeweler. In May, 1884, he engaged in this line of business for himself. After ten years of successful endeavor, he took a course in the Chicago Ophthalmic College. In addition to doing a large business in jewelry and watches, he makes a specialty of his work as an optometrist, and is considered one of the best in his line in this part of the state. Mr. Clark is a member of the Congregational church, but in the absence of a church of that faith in St. Cloud he attends the Presbyterian church and has been elected its treasurer. He was married April 29, 1889, to Mary Alice Brookes, of San Diego, California, daughter of Henry and Harriet N. (Bosworth) Brookes. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have had five children. Two died in infancy. Henry B. is a graduate of the medical department of the University of Minne- sota. Carol H. is a graduate of the St. Cloud High school, and a student in Carleton College, at Northfield, Minn. Helen A. is a student in the St. Cloud High school.

Edward E. Clark, for many years intimately connected with the manage- ment of the public utilities of St. Cloud, was born at Hudson Falls, New York,

Lewis black

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

January 26, 1857, son of Guy W. and Deborah (Howland) Clark. He attended the public schools of his native town, and the Academy at Poughkeepsie, New York, and received his business training in the store of his father, who was one of the leading merchants of that place. He came to St. Paul, and remained for several years, spending in the meantime, a few months as manager of an orange grove in Florida. It was in the fall of 1883 that he took up his resi- denee in St. Cloud, where he became the popular and efficient cashier of the First National Bank. In 1896, Judge D. B. Searle selected him as receiver for the old St. Cloud Railway Co., and in this capacity he gave evidence of excellent executive ability and a capability for hard work. He took the line poorly equipped, and put it in good condition and made it pay. Then began his association with A. G. Whitney, in whose companies he was an official until the time of his death. He was superintendent, secretary and treasurer of the Granite City Publie Service Co., and of the St. Cloud Water Power Co., and treasurer of the Granite City Railway Co. In these offices he served for many years. After an heroie fight with ill health, he died at Rockledge, Florida, March 15, 1914, and was laid to rest in Hudson Falls, New York. At the time of his death it was said of him: "The success of the publie utility companies of St. Cloud was due in a large degree to the ability of Mr. Clark. He was a man of keen judgment, commanded the loyal co-operation of his associates, and held the confidenee and good will of the community. The wonderful growth of the street ear company called for hard and strenuous work on the part of the general manager, and no other man in the city came so close to so large a number of people. Few men in so trying a position could have maintained the very friendly relations with all the patrons that Mr. Clark did, and his popularity grew because he proved to be an absolutely fair man. He looked after the interests of his companies, and promoted their great development, but he never forgot that his companies were serving the city and the people, and to make that service satisfactory was his ambition. He has been in a large way a part of the history of the city for the past fifth of a century, years when St. Cloud emerged from a country village to the fifth eity in the state. Personally he was a most delightful citizen, optimistie, hopeful, cheerful and friendly. He made good. Perhaps no man in the city will be more sincerely mourned. He had a host of loyal friends in every walk of life. He was of a most genial disposition, and had faith in his fellow men, a faith born of his own optimism, and a faith that inspired those associated with him to do their best. For twenty years he filled a large place in the business inter- ests of the city and he filled it faithfully." At the time of his death, Mr. Clark was the oldest member of the local Royal Areanum. He was also a member of the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Commercial Club.

Mr. Clark married Elizabeth F. Martin, April 25, 1878, a native of New York state, and there are two children, Guy W. and Edith M. Edith M. is a member of the faculty of the St. Cloud Public Schools. Guy W. is a mid- shipman at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

Lewis Clark. The subject of this mention, now one of the venerable figures of St. Cloud, has had a notable career, has taken more than the average man's part in the progress of events, and deserves more than passing notice in the

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

list of those who have helped to make St. Cloud. Lewis Clark was born in Auburn, Worcester county, Mass., Jannary 4, 1829, son of John and Sarah (Rice) Clark, and traces his ancestors back to the earliest Colonial days-the Clarks to 1695 and the Rices to 1711. He was reared on the home farm, re- ceived his early schooling in Auburn, and took courses in the Baptist Seminary at Worcester. He started to learn the machinist's trade in Whitinsville, Mass., and finished his apprenticeship in Worcester, working in numerous shops. For several years he worked in the railroad shops at Springfield, Mass., qualified as an expert, and was sent to Canada-West, with the first steam locomotive ever seen in that part of the country, making his headquarters at Fort Erie. In 1853 he made his first trip to the middle-west portions of the United States. In 1855 he left his employment in Springfield and, upon reaching Minnesota, spent the first winter in St. Paul. In the spring of 1856 he and Burnham Hanson erected a saw mill at Watab. It was in the fall of 1856 that he took up his residence in St. Cloud. At that time the village was a hamlet of log cabins with one frame house. The succeeding years were filled with the busiest activi- ties. For a time he sold farm implements. For some years he operated a flour and feed mill at Clearwater, and a store at St. Cloud, in partnership with C. F. Davis. When the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Davis took the mill and Mr. Clark the store. For a time, Mr. Clark had J. E. Wing, as a partner. In 1893, Mr. Clark retired from some of his more arduous activities, but still occupies a considerable part of his time in looking after his various interests. He is a well preserved man in every way. Mr. Clark's personal reminiscences of St. Cloud are very interesting. From a small village of a few houses, three mer- chants and one hotel, he has watched it grow to its present proportions. In the old township days he was chairman of the board of supervisors, and after the incorporation he was a member of the city council for a number of years. Mr. Clark was married March 24, 1859, to Harriett A. Corbett, the marriage taking place in the first frame house built in St. Cloud. She was born in Fre- mont, Ohio, daughter of Appleton and Harriet (Richmond) Corbett. Mr. and Mrs. Clark had three children, John Lewis, Hattie Frances and Mary Elizabeth. John Lewis died in infancy. Hattie Frances, now deceased, mar- ried Samuel C. Gilman, and is survived by a son, Charles L., of Minneapolis. Mary Elizabeth died at the age of three years.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 964

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 964