USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 24
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Kimball Prairie (also Kimball). Brower's addition to Kimball, 1910; Brower's second addition to Kimball, 1911; Kimball Cemetery, 1895; Kimball Prairie, 1887; Patten's first addition, 1890.
Fair Haven, 1857; Fair Haven Cemetery, 1866; Clearwater, 1857; Accacia Cemetery, Clearwater, 1867; Breckenridge, Toombs county, Minn., 1865; Bur- lington, 1857; Cobbaconse, 1855; Desota, 1857; Detroit, 1857; Elrosa, 1908;
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Eslarn, 1907; Park addition, 1907; Fremont City, 1857; Grand Rapids, 1857; Hartford, 1857; Lourissaville, 1857; Linden Hill, Marysville, 1856; Minnewawa, 1856; Grand Lake Park, 1906; Moritz Park, 1908; Nenah, 1856; North Star Cemetery, 1864, Oakland Cemtery, 1873; Oleon, 1855-56; Otter Tail City, 1856; Pearl Lake Park, 1912; Perseverance City, 1857; St. Nicholas, 1912; St. Steph- ens, 1907; Spring Park, 1908; Staples Cemetery, 1878; Sunny Side, 1905; Wa- dena, 1857; Waite Park, 1890; Winnebago, 1856; Woodstock, 1857; Yarmouth, 1858.
FORGOTTEN NAMES AND PLACES.
In the early days the mania for laying out townsites with the buoyant expectation of getting rich quick from the sale of town lots was very preva- lent. New towns, or lands for new towns, were platted almost regardless of any possible opportunity for their development. Scarcely any township in the county was left without having planted within its borders the seed for a coming city. Comparatively few of these seeds germinated, and the land which had been taken for lots was soon devoted to the more wise and profitable use of raising grain and grazing cattle. To most of the present generation even the names of these early townsites are wholly unknown, as the subjoined list compiled from the county records will show :
Neenah was platted in section 13, township of St. Augusta, on Johnson's creek and southerly of present hamlet of St. Augusta.
Fremont City was situated south and southwesterly of and adjoining the present townsite of Clearwater.
Leedstone was a townsite platted in section 35, township of St. Martin, ou the present site of the village of St. Martin.
Stony-Brook Crossing was never platted as a townsite, name derived from the crossing of Stony creek. This was the first stopping place for Spring Hill for stages at F. W. Lenz's Hotel which was also the postoffice.
Grand Rapids, surveyed by George N. Propper, July 24, 1857, and as nearly as can be ascertained was situated on both sides of Sauk river where the railroad and wagon bridges now cross in the township of St. Cloud near Waite's farm.
Hartford, surveyed by M. P. Noel, January 31, 1857, and as nearly as can be ascertained was situated on the north side of Sauk river nearly opposite the present site of the village of Rockville.
Munich, surveyed by Sebastian Wimmer, March, 1858, was situated in section 7, township of Oak, surrounding Starnberger's (now Frevel's) lake and just northerly of the present site of New Munich.
Perseverance City, surveyed by M. P. Noel, December, 1857, was situated in section 35, township of St. Joseph, and on the northerly side of Pleasant lake.
Sauk City, surveyed by J. H. Place, June, 1850, and situated in the south- east corner of the town of Le Sauk.
Minnewawa, surveyed by T. B. Titus, April 28, 1857, situated in section 17 and 20, township 123, range 27, being in the towns of St. Augusta and Lynden. A levee was located at this place on the Mississippi.
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Winnebago, surveyed by William Dwelley, November, 1856, situated in the town of Le Sauk and directly north of the present site of the village of Sartell.
Woodstock, surveyed by I. M. Lackey, July 1, 1857, situated on and around the bend in Sauk river at Waite Park. This townsite took in a part of the pres- ent village of Waite Park.
Yarmouth, surveyed by M. P. Noel, February 10, 1858, situated in section 3, town of Maine Prairie, between Otter Tail (now Grand) lake and Pearl lake, being on the northwesterly shore of Pearl lake.
Laurissaville, surveyed by R. H. C. Noel, May 18, 1857. As nearly as can be ascertained this townsite was located in the Sauk river valley about 40 miles from St. Cloud near what was known as the "Yankee Settlement." This was at the point of junction of Hughes creek (believed to be what is now called Hoboken creek) with Sank river about five miles southeasterly of the city of Sauk Centre. This was a stopping place at a hotel conducted by one Stewart. The bridge crossing said creek is still known as Stewart's bridge.
Burlington, 1857, situated at the junction of Pine river with the Mississippi river, Cass county ; Cabbanonse, situated on the present site of Little Falls, Morrison county ; De Soto, 1857, now known as Little Sauk, situated on the north side of Sauk lake, Todd county; Detroit, 1857, situated at the junction of Otter Tail river with Detroit lake; Marysville, 1856, situated in Wright county near Monticello; Oleon, 1856, situated on the west bank of the Mis- sissippi river, at the mouth of Swan river, Cass county; Otter Tail City, 1856, situated at the junction of the Otter Tail river with Otter Tail lake; Wadena, 1857, situated on Crow Wing river, between Partridge and Leaf rivers; all of foregoing townsites were filed in the register of deeds office of Stearns county, presumably because these counties were attached to Stearns for ju- dicial and record purposes.
The following hamlets and villages were formerly post office stations but have been discontinned on account of the establishing of rural routes; Isabel, town of Millwood; Arban, town of Holding; Opole, town of Brockway ; Brock- way, town of Brockway; St. Anna, town of Avon; Lake George, town of Lake George; Lake Henry, town of Lake Henry; Gates, town of Krain; Maine Prairie, town of Maine Prairie; St. Augusta, town of St. Augusta; Tyrol, town of Raymond ; St. Wendall, town of St. Wendel; Unity, town of Getty ; Farming, town of Farming ; Georgeville, town of Crow River; Meire Grove Village, town of Grove; and Spring Hill Village, town of Spring Hill.
INDIAN NAMES.
"Minnesota in Three Centuries" contains a chapter on "Names of Indian Derivation," by Warren Upham, secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society, in which are the following paragraphs having a local bearing :
"One of our most interesting Indian names is that of the Watab river, tributary to the Mississippi from the west abont five miles north of St. Cloud. This is the Ojibway word for the long and very slender roots of both the tama- rack and jack pine, which were dng by the Indians, split and used as threads
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in sewing their birch bark canoes. Both these coniferous trees grow on or near the lower part of the Watab.
"The same name has also an historical interest from the former Watab trading post, about two miles and a half north from the mouth of the Watab river and on the opposite or eastern side of the Mississippi. During about ten years next following its establishment in 1848, Watab was the most important commercial place in Minnesota territory northwestward from St. Paul, but later, it was superseded by Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud, and before 1880 the village entirely disappeared.
"In the same part of this state, the Sauk river, Sauk Rapids, Sauk Centre, the Sauk lakes and also Lake Osakis preserve a record of the former presence of Sauk or Sac Indians there."
CHAPTER XIII.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Stearns Distinctly a Democratic County-Important Part Taken in Moves That Have Created the Government of the State and Nation-Statistics of the Various Elections-Men Who Have Been Placed in Office by Stearns County Votes-Interesting Side Lights on Political Events.
From the days of its first organization, with but two or three exceptions, Stearns county has held its place consistently in the Democratic column, usu- ally rolling up large majorities. The Germans who make up a great part of the citizenship are firmly rooted and grounded in the Democratic faith and usually stand by the ticket from top to bottom. The first election in the county of which there are any published returns (1858) was somewhat mixed, there being no political question at issue, and the result turned on the personal popularity of the candidates. W. H. Wood (Democrat), of Benton county ; T. C. McClure (Independent Democrat), of Stearns county ; and A. P. Whitney (Republican), of Meeker county, were elected to the lower house of the state legislature, but as no session was held they were not given an opportunity to serve. N. P. Clarke (Republican), was elected clerk of the district court over L. A. Evans (Democrat) by a vote of 450 to 284; John McDonald (Republican) for county auditor had 385 votes to 384 cast for Joseph Broker (Democrat) ; while J. H. Linneman was elected treasurer and Nicholas Smith surveyor with- out opposition.
C. T. Stearns, H. Z. Mitchell and L. Gorton were delegates from Stearns county to the Republican State Convention held in St. Paul, July 20, 1859, which nominated Alexander Ramsey for governor, Ignatius Donnelly for lieu- tenant governor, J. H. Baker for secretary of state, Chas. Schaffer for state treasurer, Gordon E. Cole for attorney general, Cyrus Aldrich and William Windom for congress, and C. E. Vanderburgh for judge of the Fourth Judicial District.
George L. Becker, of Ramsey county, was the Democratic candidate for
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governor and Sylvanus B. Lowry, of Stearns county, the candidate for lieu- tenant governor, and as this contest was along political lines the Democrats came out on top, their candidate for governor having 660 votes to 375 for the Republican nominee; C. C. Andrews, for senator, receiving 628 votes to 387 cast for Henry Swisshelm, his Republican opponent. The full Democratic county ticket was elected, except J. M. McKelvy, county attorney (Republican) who had no opposition.
Among the speakers of national prominence who were heard in St. Cloud during this campaign was the Hon. Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin, who addressed a large meeting at Wilson's hall, October 4, speaking in the interest of the Republican party, in both English and German.
At the Republican state convention held in St. Paul February 22, 1860, Stephen Miller, of Stearns county, was elected to head the delegation to the Republican national convention to be held in Chicago May 16. The delegation was unanimous for William H. Seward, while Abraham Lincoln was nominated.
In this campaign, which preceded the outbreak of the Civil War, Stearns county was represented on both the electoral tickets-Stephen Miller for the Republican and C. C. Andrews the Douglas-Democratic ticket. A series of joint debates was held by these two gentlemen in Stearns and adjoining coun- ties where both were personally well known. They were greatly dissimilar in their styles of oratory, the former having a great fund of anecdotes and speaking with much readiness, while the latter was careful and studied, never indulging in levity. Other speakers were William Windom (afterwards United States senator from Minnesota and secretary of the treasury) ; United States Senator Morton S. Wilkinson, Governor Alexander Ramsey and Lieutenant Governor Ignatius Donnelly. At the election Abraham Lincoln received 439 votes, Stephen A. Douglas 482 and John C. Breckinridge 12. Seth Gibs, the Republican candidate for state senator, had 460 votes to 449 cast for William S. Moore, the Democratic candidate, while the Democratic candidates for the house of representatives had an average majority of 51.
In the election of 1861 E. O. Hamlin, the Democratie candidate for gov- ernor, received 655 votes to 411 cast for Alexander Ramsey-the former's plurality as a prominent citizen of Stearns county adding to the natural polit- ical majority. At this election John Zapp, who ran as an independent candi- date for register of deeds, won his first election to an office which he held continuously for twenty-seven years. His opponents were J. W. Reed (Dem.) and O. S. Freeman (Rep.), the former receiving 313 votes and the latter 362, while Mr. Zapp had 382. For senator S. B. Lowry (Dem.) had 651 and Seth Gibs (Rep.) 405 votes. For representatives, the Democratic candidates re- ceived votes as follows: R. M. Richardson 634, Peter Roy 657, John Whipple 660; the Republican candidates, Levi Wheeler 410, S. B. Cowdrey 420, W. E. Wright 397. The vote on sheriff stood : M. Lauerman (Dem.) 579; T. C. Alden (Rep.) 467. For treasurer, J. W. Tenvoorde (Dem.) 506, J. H. Proctor (Rep.) 516. For county attorney, J. C. Shepley (Dem.) 489, J. M. McKelvy (Rep.) 555. For judge of probate, L. A. Evans (Dem.) 684, S. B. Pinney (Rep.) 350. For coroner, B. Overbeck (Dem.) 651, W. T. Clark (Rep.) 401. For surveyor, J. H. Place (Dem.) 662, T. H. Barrett (Rep.) 396.
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While Mr. Proctor received a majority of the votes cast for county treas- urer, yet the office was given to Mr. Tenvoorde. In order that a number of enlisted men at Maine Prairie might vote before going to Fort Snelling to join their regiment the polls were opened at an hour prior to that fixed by law, which the district court (Judge Vanderburg) held rendered these votes invalid and when they were thrown out the office went to the minority candi- date, which seemed to be rather hard on the men who were making every sacrifice to serve their country-but the letter of the law left the court no option in the matter. Two acts were submitted to voters at this election, one providing for new boundaries between Wright and Stearns counties and the other to define the boundaries of Meeker county (adjoining Stearns), the for- mer receiving 713 votes for to 37 against, and the latter 549 for to 3 against.
In the election of 1862 the Democratic and Republican tickets were headed by William J. Cullen and Ignatius Donnelly respectively, candidates for con- gress, the former receiving 573 and the latter 285 votes.
A gubernatorial election was held the following year, the candidates being Henry T. Welles (Dem.) of Minneapolis, and Stephen Miller (Rep.) of St. Cloud, the vote standing 630 to 319.
At the presidential election in 1864, George B. McClellan received 917 and Abraham Lincoln 427 votes.
In 1865 H. M. Rice was the Democratic and William R. Marshall the Re- publican candidate for governor, the former receiving 812 and the latter 335 votes.
The election in 1866 was for a member of congress, William Colville, the Democratic candidate, receiving 943 votes to 580 for Ignatius Donnelly, Re- publican.
At the election in 1867 C. E. Flandrau, the Democratic candidate for gov- ernor, received 1,336 votes and William R. Marshall, the Republican candi- date, 794. At this election the payment of the old railroad bonds was sub- mitted to a vote of the people, the result in Stearns county being 12 for and 2,031 against, and the proposition was overwhelmingly voted down in the state at large. At the same time the question of giving the right of suffrage to negroes was submitted, the vote being 662 for to 1,384 against. It is a matter worthy of notice that at this election the total vote cast in St. Louis county was only 41-of which 28 were Republican and 11 Democratic.
In January, 1868, "Grant Club No. 1 of Minnesota" was organized in St. Cloud for the declared purpose of "securing the nomination of General U. S. Grant for the presidency at the convention to be held in Chicago in May next, and when nominated, his election in November." General Grant was nomi- nated, his Democratic opponent being Horatio Seymour, the former receiving 1,029 votes and the latter 1,524. It was at this election that the three-cornered congressional fight took place, as a result of the bitter attack made in the halls of congress by Ignatius Donnelly on Elihu Washburn, whose brother, William D. Washburn, was an active competitor of Mr. Donnelly's in the dis- trict. The candidates were E. M. Wilson (Dem.), Ignatius Donnelly (Rep.) and C. C. Andrews (Ind. Rep.). The division of the Republican vote in the
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district resulted in the election of Captain Wilson. The vote in this county was: Wilson, 1,484; Donnelly, 576; Andrews, 476.
The election in 1869 was for governor, the Democratic candidate, George L. Otis, receiving 1,430 votes-and Horace Austin, Republican, 612. At this election the first temperance votes were cast in the county, Daniel Cobb, for governor, receiving 31 votes, of which 16 were cast at Maine Prairie, 7 at Fair Haven and 5 in St. Cloud city.
In 1870 Ignatius Donnelly and John T. Averill were the opposing candi- dates for member of congress, the former as the Democratic candidate re- ceiving 1,238 and the latter, the Republican candidate, 569 votes.
In 1871 Winthrop Young, the Democratic candidate for governor, re- ceived 1,728 votes to 523 for Horace Austin, his Republican opponent.
The presidential year of 1872 increased the vote but reduced the Demo- cratic majority. The vote given Horace Greeley, who was not regarded as a very good Democrat, was 1,926, while 1,127 were cast for U. S. Grant.
In 1873, A. Barton, for governor, on the Democratic ticket, received 1,564 votes to 733 for C. K. Davis, the Republican candidate. Samuel Mayall (Pro- hibition) received a total of 35 votes-16 at Maine Prairie, 12 at St. Cloud, and 5 at Fair Haven.
The following year the tickets were headed by W. Wilkin and S. J. R. McMillan, candidates for the supreme court, the former receiving 1,993 and the latter 915 votes.
In 1875, D. L. Buell, for governor, received 1,885 votes and John S. Pills- bury 677. The temperance vote this year fell off to 19.
The Tilden-Hayes election in 1876 brought out a large vote, the former being given 2,413 votes to 1,116 for the latter. There were a number of towns in the county in these years which were very lonesome places for Republi- cans. Out of 76 votes in Albany but two were Republican; Grove, two out of 83; Luxemberg, two out of 66; Munson, 6 out of 129, while Farming cast 52, Krain 31 and Millwood 33 straight Democratic votes. The Republican strongholds were Maine Prairie, North Fork and Sauk Centre.
In 1877 W. L. Banning was the Democratic and J. S. Pillsbury the Re- publican candidate for governor, receiving 2,041 to 1,051 votes respectively. Six votes were cast at Eden Lake for the Greenback ticket, the total in the county.
For state auditor in 1878 M. Black received 2,214 votes to 856 for O. P. Whitcomb.
The candidates for governor in 1879 were E. Rice and J. S. Pillsbury, whose votes were 2,270 and 913 respectively.
For president in 1880 W. S. Hancock received 2,469 votes to 1,415 cast for James A. Garfield. Weaver, the Greenback candidate, received 24 votes at Eden Lake and 6 at Melrose.
R. W. Johnson was the Democratic and L. F. Hubbard (both old soldiers) the Republican candidate for governor in 1881, the votes being 2,211 to 914.
The Nelson-Kindred fight for congress was the event in the election of 1882. The Republican county convention was held at the court house July 5. The Nelson men being largely in the majority, the Kindred delegates bolted
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and adjourned to the West House, where they elected W. F. Markus (then proprietor of the hotel), J. H. Taylor, C. W. Hogeborn and William McAllis- ter delegates to the district convention to be held at Detroit. The delegates elected by the regular convention were H. C. Waite, F. H. Dam, A. Barto and A. L. Elliott. After a bitter struggle at Detroit Knute Nelson received the Republican nomination, when C. F. Kindred ran as an independent candidate. The Democratic candidate for congress was E. P. Barnum, of Stearns county. The vote stood : Barnum 2,123, Nelson 1,359, Kindred 903-the latter receiv- ing a number of Democratic votes.
In 1883, A. Bierman, for governor, received 2,542 votes to 1,107 cast for L. F. Hubbard. Chas. E. Holt, the Prohibition candidate, received 143 votes, of which 63 were cast at Fair Haven, 22 at Maine Prairie, and 37 at St. Cloud.
At the presidential election in 1884, 3,070 votes were cast for Grover Cleveland and 1,380 for James G. Blaine. The People's party became active in local politics this year. A legislative convention held at St. Angusta, Sep- tember 27, nominated James Colgrove, of Lynden, as a candidate for the legis- lature from the First district. The convention was composed largely of farmers. The convention for the Second district met at Paynesville, but ad- journed without making a nomination, the two candidates being D. E. Myers, of Maine Prairie, and Alexander Chisholm, of Paynesville. J. H. Bowen, of Sauk Centre, was nominated for the Fourth district.
In 1886, A. A. Ames, for governor, received 3,869 votes and A. R. McGill 1,361. The Stearns County Farmers' Alliance completed a permanent organ- ization at a meeting held at Spring Hill, July 10, with David Cleveland, of Getty, president; Kittle Halvorson, of North Fork, vice-president; E. H. At- wood, of Maine Prairie, secretary ; J. H. Boylan, of Paynesville, treasurer. The resolutions adopted at the Brainerd Republican congressional convention, shorn of their partisan features, were adopted.
A very exciting congressional contest in the Republican ranks in the Fifth district marked the year 1888. The district convention was held in St. Cloud June 12 and 13. The candidates for the nomination were A. Barto, of Stearns county ; C. B. Buckman, of Morrison; S. G. Comstock, of Clay; E. E. Corliss, of Otter Tail; O. P. Stearns, of St. Louis. The first ballot stood : Barto, 26; Stearns, 27; Comstock, 18; Buckman, 15; Corliss, 13. Twenty-five ballots were taken the first day with but little change, except as to Judge Stearns, whose vote on the last ballot had dropped to 15. The following day Barton had his 26 votes, which he held until the 39th ballot; Comstock had 27; Buckman 15, and Corliss 15. On the 28th ballot C. H. Graves, of Duluth, appeared with one vote, which later increased to 15. Judge Stearns dropped out after the 31st ballot. On the 45th ballot S. G. Comstock received 50 votes, which gave him the nomination, the other candidates standing: Barto, 19; Corliss, 15; Graves, 14. At the election in November, this being a presiden- tial year, Grover Cleveland received 4,747 votes and Benjamin Harrison 2,174.
In 1890 E. M. Wilson received 3,915 votes for governor and William R. Merriam 1,245. S. M. Owen, the Alliance candidate, received 889 votes, of which 135 were cast at North Fork, 75 at Holding, 72 at Crow River, 64 at Fair Haven, 53 at Crow Lake, and 169 at St. Cloud. J. P. Pinkham, Prohibi-
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tion, had 69 votes. The candidates for congress were Alonzo J. Whiteman, of St. Louis county, Democrat, who received 3,947 votes; S. G. Comstock, of Clay county, Republican, 1,339; Kittle Halvorson, of Stearns county, Alliance, 902. Mr. Halvorson was the successful candidate, and thus far has been the only member of congress to go from Stearns county. A Prohibition county convention was held at Paynesville May 31 of this year, at which W. A. Shoemaker, the Reverend C. W. Lawson, R. P. Gilbert and C. F. Farup were elected delegates to the state convention.
In 1892 at the Republican convention for the Sixth district held at Duluth July 20, D. B. Searle, of St. Cloud, was nominated for congress. At the Novem- ber election for president the nine candidates for election on the Democratic- Fusion ticket were divided, five being Democratic and four Fusion. The vote was 4,461 for the Grover Cleveland electors and 4,446 for the Fusion, while Benjamin Harrison, the Republican candidate, received 1,624 votes. The vote for congressman stood: M. R. Baldwin (Dem.), 4,154; D. B. Searle (Rep.), 1,963; A. C. Parsons (People's), 546.
At the 1894 election, the tickets being headed by the candidates for governor, George L. Becker received 3,657 votes, Knute Nelson 2,032, and Sidney M. Owen (People's party), 1,479. In the congressional race M. R. Baldwin, who was the candidate for re-election, received 4,239 votes; Charles A. Towne, who at this time entered on his first term as a Republican, 1,918, and Kittel Halvorson, 989.
The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most exciting in the political history of the country. It introduced the 16-to-1 free coinage of sil- ver issue, which split the ranks of both the great parties. At the Republican national convention held in St. Louis, June 18, the platform adopted declared in favor of maintaining the gold standard and opposing the free coinage of silver except by international agreement. Senators Teller of Colorado, Petti- grew of South Dakota, and Cannon of Utah, with other delegates favoring free silver, withdrew from the convention amid the most intense excitement. Wil- liam McKinley, of Ohio, was nominated for president, and A. J. Hobart, of New Jersey, for vice-president.
The Democratic national convention met at Chicago and on July 10, on the fifth ballot, nominated William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, for president, following his speech declaring that "you shall not crucify the Democratic party on a cross of gold." Arthur J. Sewall, of Maryland, was nominated July 13 on the fifth ballot for vice-president. The platform declared in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. The Gold Democrats bolted the convention.
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