USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 14
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No. 3, or Tamarac Precinct-To embrace all that portion of Stearns county lying north of Watab river and the north line of Precinct No. 2. Judges of election : Henry Foster, Louis Arnett, John Smith; road over- seer, Asa White.
At a subsequent meeting, April 30, a new election precinct was estab- lished : No. 4, or Farmington Precinct-Commencing at a point five miles up from the mouth of Watab river; thence up to its head; thence dne west to the county line; thence south on the county line to the north line of Pre- cinct No. 1; thence east to a point which shall be five miles from the Missis- sippi river; thence north to a point five miles from the mouth of the Watab river. Judges of election: Henry Lindiman, Jacob Staples, D. T. Wood.
When the commissioners held their next meeting, June 14, 1855, Harvey Wiltzhimens was appointed sheriff to succeed Luther B. Hammond, resigned. For the year 1855 the county tax rate was fixed at one per cent, of which one-fourth was to go for the school fund; one mille on the dollar for terri- torial purposes, and the remainder for county purposes. The first liquor
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license to be granted was issued to Anton Edelbrock, to sell spirituous, vinous and fermented liquors at his house in St. Cloud for the term of one year from July 6, 1855. Mr. Edelbrock gave a bond, which was approved, but there is no record that he was required to pay any fee for the license.
At a special session held August 15, Henry Linneman's house in the town of St. Joseph was designated as the place for holding elections in the Farm- ington Precinct, and M. J. Orth was appointed a judge of election to succeed Henry Linneman, resigned. The court house in St. Cloud was designated as the place for holding elections in the St. Cloud Precinct, and Joseph Edel- brock, Nathan Lamb and Franklin Sisson were appointed judges of election as successors to Anton Edelbrock, Battise Arsenean and L. B. Hammond, resigned. The St. Augusta Precinct was vacated and annexed to the St. Cloud Precinct, which thereupon became Precinct No. 1, while Tamarac Precinct was No. 2 and Farmington No. 3.
Another special session was held August 28, at which it was ordered that the Chippewa Agency Precinct remain as it was when attached to Benton county for judicial purposes, with J. D. Crittenden, Truman Warren and D. B. Harriman judges of election. Also that the Long Prairie Precinct remain as when it was attached to Benton county for judicial purposes, with Lewis Stone, Harman Becker and Anson Northrup judges of election. A new elec- tion precinct in Stearns county was established, called Richmond Precinct, to include "all that portion of Stearns county lying west of Coldwater Brook." Lewis Henry Buck, George Humphrey and Lewis Blomer were appointed judges of election.
At a special session held October 20, the first lists of grand and petit jurors were prepared to be handed to the clerk of the district court. Claims against the county which were allowed for different purposes were issued in small amounts-a claim for $10.00 being divided into three orders-for the reason that there being no money in the county treasury to redeem them they were used as currency in paying bills, at whatever rate of discount might be agreed upon between buyer and seller. The first county order was dated July 6, 1855, was for $45.30, and was issued to John L. Wilson-$31.80 being for books and stationery furnished the county and $13.50 for "services ren- dered at commissioners court." At an extra session held December 26, 1855, at which a number of small claims were allowed, it was ordered that county order No. 1 be canceled and five new orders issued-fonr for $10.00 each and one for $5.00, the odd thirty cents evidently being overlooked or else dis- counted to make bookkeeping easier.
1856. An election having taken place, when the commissioners met January 7, 1856, the board was composed of Anton Edelbrock, Reuben M. Richardson and M. J. Orth, the first-named being chosen chairman. Henry C. Waite was appointed judge of probate, and the bonds of the following officers were approved : Henry C. Waite, judge of probate; Charles Ketcham, register of deeds; Addison Gilmore, assessor; Nathan Lamb, justice of the peace; Joseph Edelbrock, sheriff ; J. W. Tenvoorde, treasurer. At the follow- ing day's session Henry C. Waite was appointed prosecuting attorney in and for the county of Stearns. It was ordered to pay Harvey Weltzheimer, sheriff,
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$6.00, and D. T. Wood $3.00, as fees in the case of John Rengel, Sr., vs. John Rengel, Jr .; "the above case being in behalf of the United States the justice decided that the county pay all costs"-this being the first recorded case where the costs of a suit were paid from the county treasury. Benjamin Davenport was appointed constable, and Mathias Schindler road supervisor for the Farmington Precinct. John W. Tenvoorde was authorized to furnish an office for the clerk of the commissioners court for one year from January 8, 1856, at $50 per annum.
When the commissioners met at the regular session April 7, 1856, with all members present, grand and petit jurors for the May term of the district court were selected, and as these are the first lists of which there is any record the names are given herewith: Grand jurors-Eli B. King, Charles Anable, J. W. Tenvoorde, John Johnson, S. B. Lowry, John H. Wilkin, Lawrence Fisher, Simon Lodimier, Louis Homan, Joseph Dimiel, John Schwartz, John P. Rengel, N. N. Smith, J. L. Wilson, Nicholas Lahr, John Ball, Thomas Berch, Peter Neidhart, George Lafond, Joseph Eich, Micah Walker, George W. Day, Solomon Gillett, John W. Getchell, O. Getchell, David Alexander, James Staples, Benjamin Davenport, Henry Linneman, Henry Buck, Samuel Wakefield, H. Bruning, Vincent Schindler. Petit jurors-Addison Gilmore, John King, J. W. Sanders, John Carew, Michael Hanson, Herbert Hanson, John Stenger, H. E. Collins, John Moog, Thomas Birch, John Ferschweiler, H. Welzheimer, Spencer Herbert, Joseph Niehaus, Henry Becker, Peter Eich, John Hiemens, Philip Spinweaver, Anton Emholt, David T. Wood, Albert Evans, H. G. Fillmore, James Keough, George Eich, Peter Kramer, B. Pirz, Nicholas Jacobs, Polzier Fox, John Loer, William B. Staples, Martin Fitler, Jr., Michael Langfelt, William Waldorf, John Hanson, George Humphrey, M. J. Orth, Michael Litz, Robert Shiffman, Joseph Phillipps, Theodore Jacobs, Lawrence Peffer, William Decker, Nicholas Rossier, Frank Remely, Ivory Staples, George Landenbeck, G. H. Fiebby, Nicholas Gimenau, Fred Coon, Louis Rotheup, J. Schnidgen, Michael Miller, Nathan Lamb.
Provision was made for the next election by the appointment of judges and the designation of voting places as follows: St. Cloud Precinct-Joseph Eich, Sidney C. Raymond and Addison Gilmore, judges; voting place, house of Anton Edelbrock. Tamarac Precinct-Asa Libby, John L. Young and Solomon Gillett, judges; voting place, house of John L. Young. Farmington Precinct-Jacob Staples, Michael Lauerman and Michael Reder, judges; voting place, house of John H. Linneman. Richmond Precinct-George Humphrey, Harmon Brunning and Andrew Bomel, judges; voting place, house of J. P. Richardson. The St. Augusta Precinct, which had been attached to the St. Cloud Precinct, was reinstated, with Jonathan Dallas, L. B. Johnson and Joseph Tunis, judges ; voting place, the house of L. B. Johnson. Jonathan Dallas was appointed justice of the peace, C. G. Amable constable, and L. B. Johnson supervisor for the St. Augusta Precinct; and Leland Cramb, justice of the peace for the St. Cloud Precinct. At a session held May 10, John H. Taylor was also appointed justice of the peace for the St. Cloud Precinct.
At the regular session July 7, 1856, after examining and approving the assessment rolls, the county tax for 1856 was fixed at one per cent, with the
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same apportionment as for 1855. Addison Gilmore was allowed $123.50 for making the assessment and taking the census of the county, this amount being divided into eight orders, ranging from $5.00 to $25.00 each. As these orders could be disposed of only at a very considerable discount it cannot well be charged that Mr. Gilmore was greatly overpaid for his services in discharging this double duty of county assessor and census taker. Unfortu- nately there is nothing on record to show what this census was. Evidently it was believed that no little honor was attached to the office of clerk of the board, as at the meeting held August 27, he was ordered to furnish a room suitable for his own use from that date to January 1, 1857, at his own ex- pense. The prosecuting attorney was instructed to institute suit against the St. Cloud City Company for non-payment of ferry license.
1857. At the regular annual meeting, held January 5, 1857, J. Orth took the oath of office as commissioner and was elected chairman of the board. At this meeting school district No. 2 (district No. 1 having been the St. Cloud district) was organized, with the following boundaries: "Commencing at the mouth of Sauk river; thence running west or nearly west to include the resi- dence of Nathan Lamb; thence in a southerly direction to the residence of John Sniderjohn; thence easterly to the Mississippi river, at the point be- tween the claims of Kellison and Brown." License fees for hawkers or peddlers, whether wholesale or retail, selling goods, wares or merchandise within the county, were fixed at $20 for any person using a team, whether one-horse or two-horse; for foot peddlers, $10. John W. Tenvoorde was paid $50 for office rent for the year 1856-of which $25, as a special favor, was paid "in money out of the treasury." H. C. Waite received $200 .for his services as district attorney for the year 1856.
At the session April 7, 1857, the first motion was one to adjourn to Joseph Edelbrock's store-reason not given. School districts Nos. three and four were organized, both in the vicinity of St. Cloud. The name of Tamarac Precinct was changed to Winnebago; John L. Young, Milo Young and M. C. Tolman were judges of election for the year 1857, the election to be held at J. L. Young's house. The election for the St. Cloud Precinct was to be held at the Willis House, with John L. Wilson, Joseph Edelbrock and Ludwig Robbers, judges of election. The St. Joseph Precinct election was to be held at H. Linneman's, with Aures Schroeder, Peter Nierengarten and Michael Rieder, judges of election. In the Richmond Precinct the judges were Mathews, Francis Schindler and J. P. Richardson, the election to be held at R. M. Richardson's house. The election in the St. Augusta Precinct was to be held in G. L. Wilson's house, with Charles Wilson, B. Herrick and George Wisman judges of election. John Seymour was appointed assessor for all of the St. Augusta Precinct south of Sauk river, and Henry Buck assessor for the Richmond Precinct. The resignation of J. E. Tenvoorde as constable for the St. Cloud district was accepted.
At a regular meeting of the board held July 6 and 7, 1857, with all the members, M. J. Orth, Anton Edelbrock and R. M. Richardson, present, four new election precincts were erected, as follows:
Clearwater Precinct-Commencing at the mouth of the Clearwater river,
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thence following up said river to the southwest corner of township 122, range 27; thence north on the town line to the corner of 13, 24, 18 and 19; thence west on section lines to the corner of sections 15, 16, 21 and 22; thence north on section lines to the township line between towns 122 and 123; thence east on said township line to the corner of towns 122 and 123 of ranges 27 and 28 to the quarter-section post between sections 19 and 24; thence east on the quarter-section line to the Mississippi river; thence down said river to the place of beginning. Judges of election: S. A. Clifford, Martin Johnson and W. J. Kirk; place of holding election, the house of S. A. Clifford.
Rockville Precinct-Commencing at a point on Sauk river where the west line of St. Cloud township crosses Sauk river; thence up Sauk river opposite Coldwater brook; thence sonth to the southern boundary of Stearns county ; thence down said river to the east township corner of township 123, range 27; thence on a direct line to the place of beginning on Sauk river. judges of election : L. P. Gaylord, T. W. Berlin and William Decker; place of holding election, the house of L. P. Gaylord.
Sauk Centre Precinct-All that part of Stearns county west and north of Maryatta and south to the Pembina trail. Judges of election: Warren Adley, S. M. Bruce and E. C. Wheeler; place of holding election, the house of Warren Adley.
Paynesville Precinct-Commencing at a point opposite the mouth of Cold- water brook, thence south to the southern boundary of Stearns county ; thence west to the western boundary; thence north to the old Red river road; thence east to the place of beginning. E. E. Payne, George Lincoln and Martin Bullard were appointed judges of election; place of holding election, E. E. Payne's house.
Henry C. Waite was appointed judge of probate in and for Stearns county. A special session was held September 24, at which another precinct was erected, to be known as the Marysville and Fair Haven Precinct, with the following boundaries: Commencing on the section between sections 3 and 4 in township 122, range 28, thence west on said township line to the center of township 29; thence south on the section line between sections 3 and 4 to the south boundary of Stearns county; thence east on said boundary line to the section line between sections 33 and 34 in township 28; thence north to the place of beginning. Jndges of election : John Farwell, Hercules Dam and A. Smith.
1858. When the regular session convened January 4, a change had taken place in the membership, S. H. Clifford having been elected to succeed R. M. Richardson; Anton Edelbrock was chosen chairman. H. C. Waite was ap- pointed district attorney in place of James C. Shepley, absent. The sheriff having made report of trespassing done on timbered school lands, with the names of the guilty parties, that officer was instructed to collect from the offenders $8.00 per thousand for rails, $1.50 for cord wood, and $0.75 apiece for house logs. Assessment districts were constituted as follows: The Clear- water, Maine Prairie and St. Augusta Precincts to be the First district; St. Cloud, St. Joseph and Winnebago Precincts, the Second district; Rockville, Richmond, Paynesville and Sauk Centre Precincts, the Third district.
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The clerk was instructed to "notify the different justices of the peace in the county to require security in all cases of the party prosecuting, as the county hereafter will pay no costs incurred from failure of prosecuting and so forth." It was ordered that a new bond be issued and put on file in the clerk's office for the sum of five hundred dollars, running to Anton Edelbrock, payable in four years from date and drawing twelve per cent. The occasion for the issuance of this bond or the purposes to which it was to be devoted is not given in the records. The list of grand and petit jurors for the next term of the district court was selected. The board adjourned January 9; after allowing a number of bills, and the minutes of this meeting are attested by Anton Edelbrock, chairman, and Joseph Edelbrock, clerk; none others having been attested since those of the meeting of January 8, 1857, when M. J. Orth signed as chairman and Charles Ketcham as clerk. An extra session was held January 25, at which W. D. Davis was appointed justice of the peace, Tertius Heaton constable, E. A. Wyatt road supervisor, and Joseph P. Richardson assessor for Clearwater Precinct. The county treasurer pre- sented his accounts for settlement, and $373.20 in county orders and $72.68 in cash "were found to be left in the county treasury." H. C. Waite was allowed $22.00 for nine days attendance on the board as district attorney. An extra session was held February 22, continuing through February 24, at which action was taken regarding the building of a court house which is more fully reported elsewhere. The board voted to "adopt the Greenback seal for our county seal; a copy thereof is hereunto attached." It is the usual form of such seals, bears the words, "Official seal of Stearns county, Minnesota Territory," and is on green gummed paper. As this was long before the days of greenbacks, just what led the commissioners to adopt it is a matter of surmise.
At the regular session beginning April 5, the first item of business was the appointment of Henry C. Waite, county surveyor, in place of M. P. Noel, resigned, this appointment indicating that Mr. Waite was much in demand for public positions, he having been previously appointed to fill the offices of judge of probate and county attorney. The sheriff's search for timber cut by trespassers on school lands had resulted in the collection of $106.28, repre- sented by promissory notes. The most important business of this session was the appointing of judges of election for the several election precincts and designating polling places. This proved to be so much labor lost, as a law passed by the legislature in the spring of 1858 provided for the government of counties by a board of supervisors composed of the chairmen of the several townships. In compliance with the provisions of this act the commissioners met in extra session May 19, and established eleven townships, the boundaries of which are given in another place. An extra session held May 26 was devoted almost exclusively to allowing bills. It was directed that a new county order for $195 be issued to H. C. Waite to replace one which had been lost and he was allowed $21 for services as county surveyor.
At the July session, besides allowing bills, one of which was from C. Becker, $13, for a pair of hand-cuffs, the only business transaction was the adoption of an order directing that "notice be given in the St. Cloud Visiter
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and St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat cautioning persons from buying bonds issued by the county of Stearns bearing date of August 27, 1856, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, each for one thousand dollars, (court house bonds) said bonds being supposed lost, but are now known to be in the possession of cer- tain person or persons." (The natural curiosity of succeeding generations as to who these "certain person or persons" may have been still remains unsatisfied.)
The township law went into effect July 12, but it was August 3 before the new board of supervisors met. There were present Moses Morrison, Asa Libby, Samuel Wakefield and George W. Cutter, who organized by electing Moses Morrison chairman, Joseph Edelbrock still serving as clerk, while Henry C. Waite was elected counsel. During the session of the board Leander Gorton was admitted as a member from the township of St. Cloud. Each member of the board was instructed to have supervision over the school lands in his township.
When the board met September 14, Thomas C. McClure was elected clerk. At the meeting held October 5, the name of S. M. Bruce first appears as that of a member of the board. The clerk was authorized to subscribe for a copy of the paper publishing the laws of the state, to be kept on file for the benefit of the county officials. Now the laws are published in every paper in the state, for the benefit of everybody. W. G. Butler, S. A. Clifford and W. D. Davis were appointed judges for a new election precinct established at Clear- water, and at that time it was decided that no new election precinct should be established unless the distance from one already established was greater than seven miles.
After several ineffectual attempts to secure a quorum, the board met November 2, with Chairman Morrison, S. Wakefield, R. M. Richardson, J. L. Wilson, G. W. Cutler and Leander Gorton present. A tax of one and one- fourth per cent was ordered to be levied on the taxable property in the county, to be divided as follows: Five mills for state tax, seven mills for county tax and one-half mill for school tax. J. A. Willis, who had been cutting wood on school lands, was given the privilege of paying for what he had taken at seventy-five cents per cord provided he pay for the rest in advance.
1859. The final meeting of the year was held December 31, continuing daily until January 5, 1859, inclusive. The members present were M. Morrison, J. L. Wilson, L. Gorton, S. Wakefield, O. S. Freeman and R. M. Richardson. As the sessions began at seven o'clock in the morning, with a recess of "one hour for dinner," and evening meetings, it will be frankly admitted that the members earned their per diem. Besides this remarkable display of industry, the board, before adjournment, by a vote of four to two-M. Morrison, L. Gorton, O. S. Freeman and R. M. Richardson constituting the majority, while J. L. Wilson and G. W. Cutler cast the minority votes-decided that its mem- bers were not entitled to mileage. This record certainly deserves to be embalmed in history. As a method of correcting errors made in the assess- ment roll it was decided to issue non-negotiable county orders. An examina- tion of the county treasurer's account showed county orders to the amount of $405.80 with $107.68 in cash to be in the treasury, and it was ordered that
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all the money then in the treasurer's hands be appropriated for school pur- poses. The bond of the county auditor was fixed at $10,000, "to be secured extensively (sic) on real estate free from encumbrance." Licenses to sell liquor were issued to J. A. Willis, proprietor of the Willis House; Joseph Edelbrock, to sell in his "Variety Store"; Gotfried Huber, Wolfgang Eich, St. Cloud; and to John H. Linneman at St. Joseph, the license fee in each case being $50.
School superintendents for a number of the townships were appointed as follows: Corning, T. C. McClure; Maine Prairie, A. H. Staples; Verdale, J. B. Pease; Munson, J. P. Richardson; St. Joseph, John A. Miller. For the convenience of the auditor and the expediting of business, rules were adopted requiring that all motions and resolutions offered by members of the board should be in writing; that all county orders issued should be in the hand- writing of the county auditor ; and that every person, on or after that date, in presenting accounts would be required to sign the same and take an oath that he believed the bill to be correct and true to the best of his knowledge. James S. White was appointed coroner, and John McDonald having resigned as county auditor, J. W. Read was appointed his successor, and thereupon became the clerk of the board. A large number of bills, for those times were allowed, including one to W. A. Caruthers, register of the land office, for an abstract of the lands entered in the county; Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm for print- ing; and to other familiar names of the early days, such as John Farwell, B. Pirz, Henry Krebs, B. H. Dingman, Frank Kent, Joseph Broker, Joseph Marthaler, W. T. Rigby, Peter Seberger, S. F. Brown, H. Dam, H. G. Fillmore, C. T. Stearns, M. D. Cambell, T. H. Bowell, H. G. Kilbourn, J. E. Tenvoorde, H. Staples, J. S. White, John Payne and W. B. Staples, for services rendered or material furnished.
The session beginning February 8 found M. Morrison, Leander Gorton, R. M. Richardson, O. S. Freeman and G. W. Cutter present. A motion to admit Seth Gibbs to a seat was for some reason rejected, but the motion was afterwards reconsidered and he was admitted to membership. The board was increased by the addition of Samuel Wakefield as a member when it assembled March 12, and L. B. Johnson was admitted to a seat from the town of Berlin. An exemption of $200 from the assessment of each taxpayer was ordered.
At the session beginning March 25, a resolution addressed to the state auditor was adopted stating that because of the scarcity of money the col- lectors had not been able to secure the amount of taxes required and asking for a further extension of time. The township of St. Cloud, by reason of its increased population, was voted to be entitled to two members of the board, (800 being the basis) but when, at a later meeting, Mr. Beaupre made applica- tion to be admitted, it was decided that the full number of 1600 was necessary to entitle the township to the additional member.
When the board met May 3 there were present eleven members, from the following townships: Marion, William Bosworth; Fair Haven, Albert Mont- gomery; Lynden, Seth Gibbs; Verdale, O. S. Freeman; Munson, R. M. Rich- ardson; Berlin, L. B. Johnson; St. Cloud, Rev. David Lowry; Maine Prairie,
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M. Hansen; St. Joseph, John Lear; Wakefield, John Schneider. This was the first occasion on which the townships from which members were accredited was made a matter of record. The board organized by electing R. M. Rich- ardson chairman. J. E. Tenvoorde, against whom charges had been filed by the board with the governor, presented his resignation as sheriff of Stearns county, which was accepted and H. G. Fillmore was appointed to fill the vacancy.
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