History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 13

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

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Josiah E. Hayward was married in 1848, to Mary Stinson Gray. This union was blessed with eight children, six of whom are living: Mary O., who is now Mrs. John Coates; Daniel S .; Hortense C., who is now Mrs. Daniel H. Freeman ; Samuel S .; Elora H., who married Emmet C. Holden, now deceased; Jean O., who married C. Parker McClure, now deceased; William H., a suc- cessful young business man who died in 1887; and John, who died as a boy in 1875.

Mary Stinson Hayward. A long and useful life closed September 1, 1912, when, at the well-ripened age of eighty-three years, Mary Stinson Hayward went to her rest. A widowhood of several years followed the death of her husband, Josiah E. Hayward, whose helpmeet she had been since they first joined their fortunes in their native state. Mary Stinson Hayward was born in Wesley, Maine, January 22, 1829, was married in that state, and in 1856 came to Minnesota, sharing with him the hardships of pioneer life, and aiding him in laying the foundations for the fortune which came in later years. Her life was a quiet one, and she mingled little with the outside world. The care of her family, to which she was most devoted, and the duties of the household employed her time. While going out but little, she was always pleased to see her friends, and had for all a kindly greeting. She is remembered especially by the old settlers, many of whom she assisted in the hours of their need.

Mrs. Hayward had two brothers, Asbury and Frank Gray, both well known lumbermen and farmers and both now dead. Of her seven sisters six are living. They are: Luvina, wife of Wesley Day, and Henrietta, wife of Lorenz Day, both of Minneapolis; Melinda, wife of John Cooper, Laura, wife of Silas Marlett, and Josephine, wife of Joseph Carrick, all of Riverside, California ; and Isadora, wife of A. G. Snow, of Minneapolis.

Peter Seberger came to America in 1845 with his parents at the age of ten years, and was reared a few miles from Chicago. In the fifties he came to St. Cloud, and located on a farm at what is now Richmond, where he lived some three years. Then he located in St. Cloud. After engaging for a while in the brewing business he embarked in a hotel enterprise. He died in May, 1876. His wife survived him until April, 1912.

Peter J. Seberger. In recent years, educators are taking a leading part in politics of the state and nation. In earlier times in Minnesota, it was not so common for men to be called from the teacher's desk to a high position in public life. But when the people's movement came on, things began to change. The need came for men of brains and training to lead the people's cause, and these men must come from circles outside of the domination of the financial and big business interests. This call reached many a teacher, and some, often at great personal sacrifice listened to the voice of duty and the urgings of conscience, and laid their all upon the altar of the cause which they believed

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

represented the progress of mankind. Among these may be mentioned the subject of these notes.

Peter J. Seberger, serving as first mayor of St. Cloud under the commis- sion form of government, was born in the city whose executive he now is, November 10, 1864, son of Peter and Anna M. (Shummer) Seberger, the pioneers. He attended the parochial and public schools, and graduated from the St. Cloud State Normal school in 1884, from which time he taught con- tinuously until June, 1912. More than a quarter of a century of this service was in the capacity of teacher and principal of the Franklin school, St. Cloud. His spare hours were not idle ones. In his younger days he worked as a clerk in various stores, for a time he managed the Berliner Hotel, previously con- ducted by his father, in the fall of 1888 he compiled a tract index for Stearns county, and at various intervals he was engaged in construction work. He has also turned his attention to politics and newspaper work. In 1896 he was manager and associate editor of the "Representative," published in Minne- apolis by Ignatius Donnelly. This was the leading Populist paper in the country, having more than 23,000 subscribers. He was engaged in this work for one year and six months, when he again accepted the principalship of the Franklin school. When the People's party was organized Mr. Seberger took an active part locally, in the state and in the nation. He attended the first national convention of that party, held in Omaha, in 1892. He attended the St. Louis convention of that party in St. Louis in 1896, as the chairman of the delegation from the Sixth Congressional district, and was elected secretary of the Minnesota contingent. In 1894, he was nominated for Secretary of State, and in 1898 he ran for Congress at the earnest solicitation of the Popu- lists of the district.

Mr. Seberger has been president and secretary of the library board. He was mayor under the old form of city government, was chairman of the com- mittee of three who drafted the new commission form charter, and in the spring of 1912 became the first mayor under the new system. As mayor, he sits as commissioner of public affairs and safety. Mr. Seberger has been president of the St. Cloud Commercial Club, and is now its secretary. He is Grand Guide of the Minnesota Grand Lodge, A. O. W. W .; Great Sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men, of Minnesota; clerk, secretary or recorder of the local lodges of the Modern Woodmen of America, Woodmen of the World, the Equitable Fraternal Union and the Court of Honor; president of the Public Health League; and a member of the Elks, the United Workmen, the Degree of Pocahontas, the Degree of Honor and the Royal Neighbors.

Peter J. Seberger married Bertha Mueller, and they have three children : Bertha, Oswald and Romama.

Freeland H. Dam, the subject of this sketch, was born in Enfield, Penob- scot County, Maine, April 13, 1835, son of Hercules and Ruth (Straw) Dam. His ancestors, on the paternal side, were from Holland, coming from Amster- dam to Manhattan Island in 1640 and settling there for many years. His great grandfather was born there in the year 1754. He, looking to better himself financially, started out to explore the forest of what was then a part of the now state of Massachusetts. The whole country then being in an

F. A. Dam

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

exceedingly wild condition. He found a location in what is now Water- borough, Maine. There in the pine forest he built a house and reared a family of seven boys and girls. In the meantime, being of a mechanical turn, he built a mill to convert the pine trees into lumber, and, at the present writing, the location is known as "Dam's Mill." He laid down the burden in 1814. Among his boys, Samuel Dam, the grandfather of F. H. Dam, was there born in the year 1796. He married Miriam Fernald, whose ancestors were from England. And on both the paternal and maternal sides F. H. Dam's forebears were of the best and a combination hard to beat. From the Pine Tree State the family have spread out all over the country, and are now upright people serving their country well in their various stations, showing that the stock from which they came were such as have made this country the best on the face of the globe.

In the year 1805 Hercules Dam, the father of F. H. Dam, was born at Waterborough, Maine. Later the family moved to what is now Enfield, Maine, where they soon engaged in the lumber and milling business where they for many years were among the heaviest operators in that section, there F. H. Dam was born in 1835 in Enfield, Maine. He has said his earliest playmates were his father's hired men. There, as early as six years old, his manual training commenced in the blacksmith, carpenter shop and mill. There every- thing used on the farm, mill and lumber camp and household was produced. Sleds, yokes, bows for the oxen, boats, oars, axes and chains were all made at home. Here he learned to do many useful things, and early imbibed a great liking for mechanics.

The market for the product of the mill and forest, aside from the local, was with Bangor and Portland and had to be transported in sailing vessels, and the subject of this sketch sailored from time to time and added to his useful knowledge by "getting the hang of the ropes." In 1844 and 1845, through reverses in the lumber business, his father disposed of his business and removed to Portland, Maine, where F. H. Dam was placed in the city schools for a term of three years. At that period in his life, thirteen years old, his father, to better his condition, was lured by the reports of the golden sands of California, crossing the Isthmus on foot, where now is the famous Panama Canal furnishing better transportation. He left F. H. Dam appren- ticed to one of the largest mills in Portland for five years to learn the milling and building trade. He also left him the head of the family, a mother and two sisters, a position he filled with pride and success, and thereby acquired much useful knowledge by this early and practical training, for besides attending to his duties as apprentice, he added much to the larder by night work as newsboy, etc. With six other apprentices he gained such a favorable . standing with his employer that in less than two years, unsolicited by himself, he was given a scholarship three months each year, for three years, to a good business school and all expenses paid, and in the meantime was placed in charge of the business where he also gained much useful knowledge, stored up for future use.

At the termination of his apprenticeship he went to Calais, Maine, where he contraeted to do mill work on contract, being his first business venture.

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

There in 1855 and 1856 he made the acquaintance of Emily Whitney, to whom he was later married. In the spring of 1856 he joined the tide which was then drifting towards the setting sun. Although urged to remain at Calais and offered a partnership in a good business, he concluded to become a western pioneer and arrived at St. Anthony on May 7, 1856. Owing to his early training, and not yet twenty-one years old, he at once secured a mill job as foreman in the mill of Rogers, Stimson, Kent & Co., being at that time the largest in the territory. Back to the farm, then as now, was much in vogue. He then took possession of land which his father had staked for him on what became Maine Prairie. His father and mother were the first family to locate on that prairie, having preceded him there by several weeks. After locating his claim, which was yet unsurveyed, he started to become a granger, but the first attempt was not a success as the hoppers descended, and in a few hours ate every living thing as to crops. Then instead of back to the farm, it was back to St. Anthony, and, as funds were getting scarce, all these trips were made on foot, seventy-five miles, as stage fare was $7.50, they were saving good money.

In the fall of 1857 all mechanical business in the country closed tight. So then it was back to the farm again, in earnest. That year the family had saved a little frost-bitten corn which they ground during the evenings in a coffee-mill, the few neighbors often joining in to make the function social, and while the mill was kept going the ladies made shoes and mittens from old clothes, as wardrobes were getting low. But with Betty, the brindle cow, and a good shotgun, they found game plenty and suffered only in their bank account. Then the Indians came and bothered the people worse than the hoppers. There were camped on his claim at one time ninety-five tepees, which made it lively as there was more or less friction which culminated in 1862 in the Indian War. After serving through that trouble, he, early in 1863, returned to Calais and was married to Emily Whitney, the girl he left behind him in 1856. They had one son, Edward Winthrop, who died at the age of nine years.

An early historian of Maine Prairie said this of F. H. Dam: "He took a claim on Maine Prairie, but spent most of his time, for a number of years, at his trade in Minneapolis, afterwards establishing himself in business at St. Cloud. Since then he has been so well known throughout the country that it is needless to add anything regarding his life. During the Indian outbreak in 1862, he immediately left his business and came to the Prairie where his coolness, bravery and knowledge of military tactics were of inestimable value to the settlers during those perilous times. He was one of the officers and . drove through to St. Paul, making 150 miles in less than thirty-six hours, and procured ammunition for those in the fort, where many brave men shrank from the dangerous undertaking. Soon after the Indian War he formed a partnership with the late W. T. Clark in the building and furnishing business, which was terminated in 1865 by his buying the business from his partner. He then, in 1867, built a new mill and operated it extensively until 1889, cutting his own pine from land owned by himself, driving the logs to the mills at St. Cloud, putting the product through his own factory, and taking the

REV. AND MRS. E. V. CAMPBELL

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

profit from stump to finished houses. The business grew and was profitable. In the meantime he had perfeeted a set of tools to build bobsleds, which up to that time had been made by hand. He was so successful in that venture that he produced a complete sled, nicely painted, every eighteen minutes, for months, and had large contracts for the same. In 1890 he built another mill at Superior, Wisconsin, and operated it until 1910 when it was made into a stock company, and he retired from aetive business, but now, at almost eighty years, he is a very busy man. He has held a few minor offices such as school board and served many years as alderman. He was one of the first organizers of the First National Bank, and has been a director for forty-seven years, and has seen that institution's resources grow to nearly two million dollars. He has had many positions of value offered him in the mechanical line, but re- fused them all, rather to play a lone hand. He is a man well informed in many lines, having traveled every state, British Columbia, and Mexico. He was always a good citizen and a genial companion and well liked generally. He had several men constantly in his employ for over thirty years, and it was said of him to the writer of this: "If every one treated their employees as F. H. Dam did there would be no strikes." He had some mottoes, and one was, he was never satisfied unless he could make two blades of grass grow where not a spear ever grew before, and he had some others as good which he lived up to. In early days he was quite active in political matters affecting the people, but never a partisan, and never an office seeker. He told the writer once that his polities were of the mixed variety and not hard shell. He was always prompt in all his promises and dealings of every nature and his word was gilt-edged in every respeet .- (Contributed.)

Elgy Vanvoorhis Campbell, D. D., founder and for nearly fifty years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of St. Cloud, was born in Ohio, March 26, 1836, the son of Robert and Naney (McIlvaine) Campbell. He lost his mother when he was six months old and his father when he was three years old. Thus left an orphan at an early age, he was reared by his grand- parents, Robert and Martha Paxton Campbell, in Washington County, Penn- sylvania. His higher education was obtained in the Academy at Cross Creek, Pennsylvania, and in the full classical course at the Washington & Jefferson College, at Washington, Pennsylvania. His theological courses were taken in the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He was ordained December 27, 1865, at St. Paul. October 21, 1864, he arrived in St. Cloud, and on November 19, 1864, he founded the Presbyterian church. Hav- ing a deep interest in the cause of education, he taught sehool for a while, and for many years was a member of the school board, being one of those who founded the present school system of the eity.

A recent publication said of him: "Dr. Campbell has a record that is equalled by few elergymen in the country. He is as much the pastor of the eity as he is of the partieular church to which he is assigned. He came to St. Cloud with his bride, who has done her share of the work. They have raised a family of children, who have grown to adult years, and have taken up their life work in other eities. Now in the evening of life, the minister and his wife are still walking side by side, enjoying the beautiful things of the Creator,

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

and adding their share of help and happiness to their large circle of friends and neighbors. Dr. Campbell has shared in the home life of the community, has been a friend in hours of grief, illness and death, and a comrade in the happy hours of baptism and marriage."

Dr. Campbell married Mary C. Shane, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have three children, Paxton G., Jennie E., and Elgy F. Paxton G. is married and has two children, Blanche and Elgy. They live in Biloxi, Miss. Jennie E. is the wife of E. G. Williams, of Springfield, Mass. Elgy F. is living in New York City.

CHAPTER X.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT.

Stearns County Created-First Commissioners Meet-Election Precincts Established-Board of Supervisors-Government Again in Hands of Com- missioners-Doings of the Successive Boards to the Present-Nearly Sixty Years of Official Life.

An act of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota ap- proved February 20, 1855, established the boundaries of twenty-five counties in the territory, including Benton, Wright, Todd, Goodhne, Freeborn, Mower, Rice and Olmsted, as well as Stearns. Section 18 reads as follows: "That so much territory as is embraced in the following boundaries be and the same is hereby established as the county of Stearns: Beginning at a point in the main channel of the Mississippi river, opposite the month of Platte river, thence west thirty-six miles to the township line between ranges thirty-five and thirty-six ; thence south on said township line to the north-west corner of the county of Keating; thence along the northern boundary of said county and the county of Wright to the centre of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the middle of the main channel of said river to the place of beginning."

The bill establishing Stearns county, as originally introduced and as it passed both houses of the Legislative Assembly, gave it the name of Stevens, in honor of Governor Isaac I. Stevens, of Washington Territory, who had been prominently identified with early Pacific railroad surveys in the Northwest. But when the bill was enrolled the name in some manner was changed to Stearns. Charles T. Stearns was then a resident of St. Anthony Falls and a member of the Territorial Council, and had taken an active part in securing the passage of the bill. When the error was discovered it was decided that the honor had been worthily bestowed and that it would not be wise to make a change. In later years another county in Northern Minnesota, adjoining Stearns almost directly to the west, was named for Governor Stevens, so that both of these sturdy pioneers were properly recognized. The year following the organization of the county Mr. Stearns removed to St. Cloud and became prominently identified with the development of the town and county, this being his home for many years.

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

The bill establishing the boundaries of the county, which were afterwards materially changed, was promptly followed by the passage of another provid- ing for its legal organization. This act is given in full herewith :

An Act to organize the County of Stearns and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota :

Section 1. That the county of Stearns be and the same is hereby de- clared to be an organized county and invested with all immunities to which all organized counties are in this territory entitled by law.

Section 2. That the Governor shall appoint and commission three snit- able persons, being qualified voters of said county of Stearns, to be a board of county commissioners of said county, with full power and authority to do and perform all acts and duties devolving upon the board of county commis- sioners of any organized county in this territory; and the said board shall have power to appoint a clerk to execute, fulfill and perform the duties devolving by law upon the register of deeds and clerk of the board of county commissioners of any organized county, who shall hold said office until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified.

Section 3. That the commissioners appointed as aforesaid shall meet on the second Monday in April, at Saint Cloud, in said county, which shall be the county seat of said county, and shall proceed to appoint a clerk as afore- said and to do and perform all other acts relative to said county which the commissioners of any organized county can do or perform.

Section 4. The county commissioners shall have power to appoint a suitable person, being a qualified voter of said county, sheriff of said county, who shall qualify and give bonds according to the requirements of law, who shall hold said office until his successor shall be elected at the next general election.

Section 5. The county of Stearns shall be included in the Second judicial district, and there shall be held in said county, at Saint Cloud, two terms of the district court, on the fourth Monday of June and on the third Monday of December in each year.

Section 6. The counties of Todd, Davis and Cass are hereby attached to the county of Stearns for judicial purposes.

Section 7. This act to take effect from and after its passage.

Section 8. And be it further enacted, That the county officers of each organized county shall be required to keep their offices at the county seat of such county, and in case of the refusal or neglect for a period of twenty days of any such officer or officers to conform to this requirement the Governor of the territory may, upon the application of thirty legal voters of such county, declare the office of such person so refusing or neglecting to be vacant, and shall appoint his successor who shall perform the duties of the office until his successor is legally elected and qualified. Provided, That the county officers of the county of Fillmore shall not be required to remove their offices to Carimona, the county seat of said county, until the fifteenth day of April next, after which time all county offices shall be kept, and the district courts held, at that place.

Section 9. The county of Ramsey shall constitute the Second council

HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY

district and the county of St. Anthony the Third council district, any law to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided, The bill authorizing the setting off of said Saint Anthony county shall become a law.

Approved March 3, 1855. J. S. Norris, Speaker of House of Representa- tives. Wm. P. Murray, President of Council. W. A. Gorman, Governor.

1855. By virtue of the authority vested in him by the act of March 3, 1855, Governor Gorman appointed David T. Wood, John Ferschweiler and John L. Wilson commissioners for Stearns county. These gentlemen met April 9 at the house of John L. Wilson, in the town of St. Cloud, and produc- ing their certificates of appointment, took the required oath of office before Robert B. Blake, a justice of the peace for said county. John L. Wilson was by ballot elected chairman. The board thereupon proceeded to appoint the following named officers: Charles Ketcham, clerk of the board of commis- sioners and register of deeds; Robert B. Blake, county treasurer; L. B. Ham- mond, sheriff; N. N. Smith, judge of probate; Robert B. Blake, surveyor ; Harvey Wiltzheimer, assessor. On the following day the bonds of these officers were approved, and the county was divided into three elective precincts.

The boundaries of these districts were fixed and officers appointed as follows :

No. 1, or St. Augusta Precinct-Commencing at a point on the Missis- sippi river at the mouth of the Clearwater river, running thence up the Mississippi to a point known as Gravelly Point; thence west to the western boundary of Stearns county; thence south to the southern boundary, of said county ; thence east to the place of beginning. Judges of election: John H. Tibbe, John G. Lodenbeck, Anton Emholt; road supervisor, John H. Tibbe.

No. 2, or St. Cloud Precinct-Commencing at a point on the Mississippi river at Gravelly Point; thence up the Mississippi river to the month of Watab river; thence up Watab river to its head; thence dne west to the county line; thence south to the north line of Precinct No. 1; thence east to the place of beginning. Judges of election : Joseph Demil, L. B. Hammond, Battise Arseneau; road overseer, Anton Edelbrock.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 13

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