History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 11

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

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Charles A. Gilman. It is not often that a single family contributes so much to the history of a state or period as does the Gilman family of New Hampshire. From the time of the first councillor Gilman, who was born in Hingham, England, in 1624, and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, about 1648, the political, ecclesiastical, social and financial history of New Hampshire was more influenced by the Gilman family than by any other, for a century and a half at least. Other names like that of Wentworth may have been more prominent for a time, or men with such names as Waldron, Weare, Stark, Langdon, Sullivan and Scammel, may have performed more conspicuous serv- ices or undergone more extraordinary trials, but the sturdy phalanx of the Gil- mans did more to keep up the steady course of the colony, the province and the state, until 1815, than any two or three other families, always being well repre- sented in the military service, during the Indian Wars, the French and English

Haun Tingly let Gilman

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

War, the Revolutionary War and the War of the Rebellion. Many prominent persons in public life of other names have descended from the Gilman family through marriage. Among thein may be mentioned Hon. Lewis Cass, whose mother was Molly Gilman, also Frances Folsom, widow of President Grover Cleveland. These and many others including Daniel Coit Gilman, president of Johns Hopkins University, have the same ancestor as C. A. Gilman. From the earliest period of our country's history, the name of Gilman has been con- spicuous both in state and nation, and has appeared with such titles as governor and state treasurer; member of the Continental Congress, both bodies of the United States Congress, United States Constitutional Convention and Commit- tee of Safety ; commissioner under Washington, to adjust the war accounts of the states; and Federal Judge of the Northwest territory, including all north- west of the Ohio river. The family was also numerously represented in the State Legislatures. During Colonial times, the family had numerous grants of land in New Hampshire, including the town granted and named Gilmanton by King George; that however was granted to others as well as to twenty-four persons named Gilman.

Charles Andrew Gilman for many years prominently identified with the political history of Minnesota, is a lineal descendant of Edward Gilman, who came from England in 1638, and whose descendants figured so conspicuously in the chronicles of New England. Edward Gilman was a descendant of Gil- man troed-dhu, who in 843 was the leader of the "fifteen noble tribes of North Wales" which battled for hundreds of years from their mountain strongholds with the people of Britain living on the plains, and later on called the English. Mr. Gilman, the subject of this record, is the son of Charles and Eliza (Page) Gilman. His birth occurred at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, February 9, 1833. He grew to sturdy, healthy boyhood on his father's farm, gave close atten- tion to his studies in the district schools, and like all the boys of the better families in his neighborhood, was sent to the Gilmanton Academy and later to East Andover, where he received an insight into the higher branches, and came in contact with some of the sturdy thought and scholarship for which New England of that period is noted. Like so many young men of his time and circumstances, he started teaching a school, his first employment being near Manchester and later near Dover and finally in his home school; and at odd times he taught in the Academy which he had himself attended. It was in 1855, when he left the state so intimately associated with his family name and started for the state which was to bear his own name so conspicuously on its record. He located at Sauk Rapids, then the largest town in the state north of the Twin Cities. His worth was apparent to his fellow citizens and even at that early day he served as register of deeds and county auditor of Benton county and while so serving, in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him receiver of the United States Land Office at St. Cloud, and he moved to that city. After four years in this position his term expired. In 1865 he engaged in lumbering in Benton and Morrison counties and continued until the early nineties, during which period he had built three saw mills. He was unfortunate during this time to lose his mills including a large quantity of lumber which was burned all without insurance, involving a great loss. In the

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

meantime Mr. Gilman had been again appointed to the receivership of St. Cloud U. S. Land Office by President Andrew Johnson, in 1866, and as register of the same office by President U .. S. Grant, in 1869. Mr. Gilman, at odd times, continued his explorations for timber and farming lands, and occasionally for minerals, not only during those years but nearly up to the present time. The greater part of his explorations have been in Northern Minnesota, some in On- tario, and some on the Pacific Coast. After an irregular study of the law for several years he was admitted to the bar in December, 1876. He practiced but little other than in matters pertaining to his family. By a resolution of the Minnesota House of Representatives, while he was its speaker, he was made one of the managers of the prosecution in the famous impeachment trial of Judge Sherman Page, of Austin, in 1879. In 1867 he was elected, and in 1868 and in 1869 he served, in the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, for the Third District which took in a very large area in the northern and central por- tion of the state. The Senate was then composed of but twenty-two members of whom none are now understood to be living, except Hon. H. L. Gordon, now a resident of Los Angeles, Cal., and former Lieutenant Governor Gilman, of St. Cloud. The latter has evidently satisfied his home people as in 1874, when vital local as well as more general interests were agitating the people, Mr. Gilman was elected representative by a constituency two to one Democratic, while he was a Republican, and he was continuously re-elected four times, once without opposition and served in the House of Representatives in the sessions of 1875 to 1879 inclusive, and in 1878 and 1879 was Speaker of the House. During that five year period occurred a legislative struggle of most vital interest to St. Cloud and Stearns county, particularly, and in general to the region northerly to Brainerd and northeasterly to Duluth. In a very long and hard-fought contest it resulted favorably to St. Cloud, Stearns county and the adjacent country above named as to their future railway points and lines. In fact all profited by the legislation, to which now is largely due the fact that Northern Minnesota is covered with railroads, and that James J. Hill is properly styled the "Empire Builder," as he might, per- haps, have been at a much greater cost, without that legislation, in the secur- ing of which Mr. Gilman was the recognized leader. The proper scope of this article does not warrant details in this matter.

The Great Northern Line from Duluth southwesterly through St. Cloud had its foundation laid by a grant of state swamp lands which was increased and made attractive by this change of from four to ten sections per mile, by Mr. Gilman while in the Senate in 1869. These things may have had an influ- ence on the public, when, in 1879, Mr. Gilman was nominated and easily elected as lieutenant governor over the opposition of powerful political oppo- nents ; and he was renominated and re-elected in 1881, also in 1883, the last time for a three year term, so that in all, Mr. Gilman has been presiding officer in the Legislature nine years, or three years longer than any other person.

At the age of eighty-one, Governor Gilman, in his walk, his feelings and his daily associations, seems like one of the younger men of St. Cloud, show- ing no sign of diminution of mental, and very little of his physical powers; in fact he is vigorous of mind and body, possessed of unusual faculties and

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

endowed with a wonderful memory. Filled with the ripe wisdom that years of experience have taught him, he brings to every matter that attracts his in- terest, powers of accomplishment, that seem almost impossible. He travels constantly looking after his business in various parts of this state and as far away as Montana and the Pacific Coast. His beautiful home is pleasantly situated on a rise of land overlooking three miles of Mississippi river, and commands a splendid view. At the time of going to press (1914) Mr. Gilman has once more been elected to the state legislature.

Charles A. Gilman was married at Sauk Rapids, January 1, 1857, to Hester Cronk, of Scotch, English and Dutch descent, daughter of Enoch and Sarah (Ferguson) Cronk, and a native of Big Island, near Belleville, On- tario. Of their fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters, there are living but six : Helen, John, Beulah, Constance, Hester and Nicholas. Helen married George S. Rankin, of North Yakima, Washington, and they have three children. John is an iron land explorer. He married Ida Wettingel and they live in St. Paul, and have two children. Beulah is principal of the Wash- ington school in St. Cloud, and lives at home. Constance married Arthur A. Ames and they have one child. They live at North Yakima, Washington. Hester E. married John Cornell, now deceased, and lives at home. Nicholas, a graduate of the State University, is now city engineer of North Yakima, Washington. He married Elizabeth McIlvaine and they have two daughters. The oldest son, Samuel Charles, a civil engineer, married Harriet Frances Clark, of St. Cloud. Both died, leaving one son, Charles Lewis, a graduate of the State University, who is an author, and, who, with his wife, Wilma Anderson Gilman, are responsible for Governor Gilman having a great-grand daughter. Gertrude, his second daughter, married William T. Meigs, of Lafayette, Indiana, a nephew of Quartermaster-general Montgomery Meigs, of the U. S. Army, during the Civil War. Both died in 1910, leaving five chil- dren, three of whom are being educated at Purdue University, Indiana, and two of whom, John and Jerusha, reside with their grandfather, Governor Gilman. Jerusha is a graduate of the St. Cloud High School and of the State Normal School.

Mrs. Gilman was a lady of most lovable presence and character, firm in her friendships and principles and a model wife and mother. She and her husband enjoyed greatly the celebration of their golden wedding on January 1, 1907, when their capacious house was thronged with relatives and friends, some from long distances. Soon afterward, however, she was stricken with what proved to be a fatal malady and though most patiently and heroically resisted by her, brought the sad end on March 19, 1910. "A most gracious lady, a grand good woman, and it is not too much to say that she was the first lady of the city in the best sense of that term," was the position accorded her by the appreciative and able editor of the Daily Journal Press in an editorial of March 19, 1910. During her life in St. Cloud, Mrs. Gilman was active in all matters of public improvement, she was one of the charter mem- bers of the Reading Room Society and was honored at different times with all the offices including that of president of this society. Her death was peaceful, befitting one whose life had been sweet and blest. Hester Park named in

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

honor of Mrs. Gilman, has been established by the city government along the Mississippi river adjacent to the Gilman home, and it is hoped and expected that it will be a source of much pride and pleasure to the city of St. Cloud. For a more extended history of the Gilman family in Europe and America, the "Gilman Genealogy, English Edition 1895," "Gilman Genealogy 1869," and the "History of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, 1845," may be consulted.

John Coates, of St. Cloud, an early pioneer of Minnesota, was born in Lincolnshire, England, December 9, 1844, son of James and Frances (Hardy) Coates. In 1849 the father, mother and seven children left for America. The father died three weeks after the vessel left the English port, and it re- quired ten more weeks for the ship to reach Mobile Bay. During the last days of the voyage before reaching the West Indies, drinking water was all exhausted but the last cask, which the captain gave to the women, and so des- perate was the thirst of the passengers in the excessively hot weather that there were many personal encounters in the efforts to get a drink of the life saving fluid. The brave mother and the fatherless children, landing at Mobile, went to New Orleans by rail, then embarked on a Mississippi river steamer. Arriving within sixteen miles of St. Louis, the river was frozen over and the passengers and baggage had to be transferred to that city by train where the Coates family remained for three months until the river opened up in the spring. They then resumed their journey by boat and reached Davenport. Near that city lived William Semper, an old English friend and neighbor of the Coates family in England, who had induced them to come to America. Mrs. Coates bought some land and built a house, where she and her chil- dren lived for a year, when Mr. Semper and Mrs. Coates were married. In June, 1854, they all removed to Minnesota and located on a homestead near Big Spring, Harmony township, Fillmore county.

In June, 1856, John Coates accompanied his brother-in-law, John H. Locke, to Benton county in what was known as the York settlement, ten miles east of Sank Rapids. Two years later John went back to Fillmore county and attended school. In 1862 he enlisted in the Second Minnesota Sharp- shooters, and went with the other recruits to St. Paul, but being only 16 years of age, was not mustered in. Nothing daunted, he came to St. Cloud and enlisted in Captain Freeman's Cavalry. This was during the days of the Indian uprising and although less than 17 years of age, he was detailed to go to St. Paul with an ox team to get guns and ammunition. He left St. Cloud on a Wednesday noon and was back at 2 o'clock Sunday morning, rec- ord breaking time with an ox team. The cavalry had left for the West be- fore he returned, and later he joined the First Minnesota Mounted Rangers in Captain Taylor's Co. D., doing patrol duty between Sauk Centre and Ft. Abercrombie, and afterwards joining the Sibley expedition, going as far west as Bismarck and being engaged in several battles with the Indians. The com- pany was mustered out in the fall of 1863. John returned to St. Cloud and has been a resident of the city since. For a year he was in charge of the his- toric "bull train," consisting of a hundred ox teams which did a freighting business between St. Paul and St. Cloud, as far west and north as Ft. Aber- crombie and Winnipeg.

John Coates

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

In 1864 he assisted in opening the road from St. Cloud to Alberta, Benton county, and in hauling the machinery for the Gilman saw mill. Later he worked in a sawmill for E. M. Tobey and was manager for Coleman Bridg- man's saw mill and lumber yards for three years. In 1866 he formed a part- nership with D. H. Freeman and did an extensive business in buying and selling eattle, horses and other live stock, buying much venison and hides and furs as a side line. As an evidence of the great amount of wild game in those days, they shipped, one fall, to New York, Philadelphia and Boston, 3,200 saddles of venison. They supplied several government forts with cattle and horses, and sold the Canadian government the first horses used by the Mani- toba mounted police. Later they became interested in the livery and transfer business, of which Mr. Coates' two sons, Harry and Frank, are now owners. Coates & Freeman also did an extensive lumber business, Mr. Coates super- intending the management in the woods and on the river. The partnership continued for 23 years.

Mr. Coates owns one of the finest farms in this section, just east of the city in Benton and Sherburne counties, to which he gives much personal at- tention, although he resides in a very handsome home in the city.

During his long residence in the city Mr. Coates served 23 years as a member of the city eouneil from the Second Ward, being honored with the presidency for three years, and he has been prominently identified with the legislation of the city for nearly a quarter of a century, taking an active and patriotic interest in the upbuilding of the municipality. He was also chief of the fire department for three years and is a life member of the State Fire Association. Mr. Coates is a lover of nature and is an expert hunter and fisherman. He is considered one of the best game shots in the state, and has a complete outfit for duck shooting consisting of a good boat made especially for that purpose and a cart on which he hauls it from one lake to another, and four dozen wood decoys. John and his brother, J. H. Coates, killed and retrieved 144 ducks between 11:20 A. M. and 3:30 P. M. one day at the "Big Four" camp at Clearwater lake. He once killed 57 prairie chickens in just four and one-half hours time, between 6 A. M. and 10:30 P. M. in the vicinity of Mayhew lake. He is also a good judge of horses and has owned many of the best in Minnesota. He is the third oldest member of North Star Lodge, No. 23, A. F. and A. M .. of St. Cloud, and is a life member. He is a charter member of McKelvy Post, G. A. R., a member of the Elks, Red Men, and has been president of the Stearns County Old Settlers' Association, and is one of its most active members.

John Coates married Mary O. Hayward, daughter of Josiah E. and Mary S. (Gray) Hayward, and this union has been blessed with six children : Charles A., Harry S., Frank H., Arthur .J., Florence and Lucille. Charles A. was mar- ried to Emma Hansdorf, deceased. They had one daughter, Dorothy, now sixteen years old. She is living with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Coates. Charles A. was later married to Isabell Bozart. She was born on Whitby Island on the coast of Victoria, and died December 8, 1913. Charles is now living in Montana. Harry, who with Frank, is interested in the livery business in St. Cloud, married Sadie Keyes, and they have two children, John

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

C., and William. Arthur J. married Mercy Miller, has one daughter, Dor- othy, and lives in Miles City, Mont. Florence married William T. Trauer- night, has two children, William J. and Richard Avis, and lives in St. Paul. Lucille is the wife of W. C. Hammerel, of St. Panl.

Nicholas Lahr, one of the early pioneers of St. Cloud, later a resident of St. Paul, was born Angust 12, 1829, in Herborn, Luxemburg, Europe. He at- tended the common school and learned the blacksmithing trade. Having re- ceived from his widowed mother, eoins amounting to $200 in United States money, he set sail for America, arriving in New York June 22, 1853, and locating in Aurora, Ill., there following his trade and acquiring a thorough knowledge of plow manufacturing, preparatory to starting a business for himself in the West. After working-hours he attended night school in order to learn the English language. In November, 1854, he came up the river to St. Cloud, then in its earliest infancy, being among the first settlers to locate here permanently. He immediately built a house and blacksmith shop and began manufacturing plows which became widely known, found their way into thousands of homesteads in the Northwest and met with immediate favor. As they cut and broke a fourteen inch furrow, requiring only two yokes of oxen for their manipulation, they were seen on nearly every section in this locality, bringing the wild land under the control of the farmer. Being of temperate habits and strictly attentive to business, through his honesty and integrity in his transactions, he became so successful that he required the assistance of fourteen men in his manufacturing operations. His motto was "Satisfaction, or no sale." He erected a large brick building on St. Germain street, known as the Lahr block, which is still occupied as an impor- tant business center, and owned considerable real estate in and around St. Cloud. Ill health, due to overwork, caused his retirement from aetive busi- ness in 1872. In 1880 he moved to Minneapolis, and three years later to his long-time home at 178 Bates avenue, St. Paul, where he devoted his time and attention to the betterment of his interests in real estate, loans, mort- gages and the like, having been prosperous in his speculations. Quiet and un- assuming by nature, Mr. Lahr had no ambitions for public life, but lived for his home and family and was an ideal husband and father. He was a devout and ardent church member. He was always a great believer in education and at one time was a member of the school board in St. Cloud. He en- deavored to give his children a good education. Six daughters are graduates of the Holy Angels Academy, Minneapolis, Central High school of St. Paul, and the Visitation Convent, St. Paul, and all are proficient in music and paint- ing, and have been trained so as to be self supporting in ease of emergency. Although living in St. Paul his heart was in St. Cloud where he received his start in life.

Nicholas Lahr was married December 28, 1858, to Mary Burden. This union has been blessed with twelve children of whom there are living eleven: Anna, Jacob A., Mary, Fanny Marie, Gertrude M., Clementine M., Mamie H., Agnes E., Joseph L., Margaret and Eleanor. Anna married Ernest P. Schmitz, a retired merchant, and they have two daughters, Victorine and Marie Louise. They reside in Los Angeles, California. Jacob A., clerk of the probate court

Nicholas Lahr

Fordinck & Whitney

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

at St. Cloud, married Anna De Wenter, of St. Joseph, and they have three sons, Alfred, Norbert and Clarence. Fanny Marie is the wife of John Leisen, a prominent merchant of St. Cloud, and they have two sons, Raymond J. F. and Herbert G. Gertrude M. is the wife of Louis Luger, president of the Luger Furniture Co., of St. Paul. They have five children, Rennold, Eldon, Lorain, Evelyn and Roberta. Clementine M. is the wife of Albert Zachmann, a St. Paul florist, and they have seven children : Emilia, Leo, Arnold, Calvert, Victor, Arthur, and Alberta. Mamie H., Agnes E. and Joseph L. live with their parents in St. Paul. Mary, now Sister M. Walburgme, Margaret, now Sister M. Eleanor, and Eleanor Lahr are affiliated with the Order of Sisters De Notre Dame and are stationed respectively in St. Louis, Chicago and Mil- waukee.

One of the notable incidents in the life of Mr. Lahr was the celebration given at the Ryan Hotel, St. Paul, December 28, 1908, in honor of the golden anniversary of his wedding, all of the children being present. The reception was attended by some 250 relatives and intimate friends, and Mr. and Mrs. Lahr received numerous congratulations and good wishes. His death Novem- ber 14, 1914, was sincerely mourned, and the newspapers were filled with appreciations of his life and worth.

Frederick H. Whitney, principal keeper of the St. Cloud State Reforma- tory, was born in Beddington, Washington county, Maine, August 22, 1857; son of George Russell (Sr.) and Martha (Noyes) Whitney. When he was scarcely more than an infant, the family started for the West, but on the way, the father died. The mother brought the children to St. Anthony Falls, this state, and in 1864 to St. Cloud. Here Frederick H. was reared, attending the graded schools, the High school and the St. Cloud State Normal school. He studied electrical engineering in Minneapolis, and for several years worked as an electrical and engineering expert, installing machinery. In 1889, when the St. Cloud State Reformatory was about to open, D. E. Myers offered Mr. Whitney the position of chief electrician and engineer, and assistant deputy. With the exception of short vacations he has since been continuously with the Reformatory. He received the first prisoners in 1889, and has received almost all the nearly five thousand that have entered since that date. In 1899 he was appointed to his present position of principal keeper and disciplinarian. He has served under D. E. Myers, W. E. Lee, W. H. Houlton, Frank L. Ran- dall, and C. S. Reed. The "First Friend," published by the Society for the Friendless, Minneapolis, says of Mr. Whitney: "During these years, Mr. Whitney has been a constant landmark at the Reformatory, and has proven his splendid ability as an officer by the fact that during these years he has maintained the most perfect discipline that could be desired, and at the same time commanded the universal respect and confidence of the inmates who have been under his charge." Mr. Whitney has four brothers and one sister. Judson is dead. Abby is now Mrs. W. H. Thompson, of St. Cloud. Elverton died in service during the Civil war. George R. is engaged in the real estate business in St. Cloud. Horace was drowned in the Missouri river. On April 15, 1879, Mr. Whitney was united in marriage to Lissie C. Whitman, and to them have been born four children. Florence E. died at two years of age;

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 11

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