USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 85
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John L. Wilson was a born optimist. Everything looked good to him. He was always cheerful and hopeful, as happy when he had but a nickel in his pocket as when he had a roll of bank bills. He was open-hearted and generous, perhaps too much so for the good of himself and his family. Many men with his opportunities would have accumulated a fortune, but during his last years he had to depend on others to show him some of that kindness he had so willingly shown to those who needed it during his years of pros- perity. He was wholly free from malice and his motto was to do good rather than evil. For more than a year he had been in poor health and was at St. Raphael's hospital when his death occurred. The funeral was from his old home and was attended by representatives of the city government as well as by friends and citizens, the interment being at North Star Cemetery.
Josiah Elam West. The history of his life is almost the history of St. Cloud, as he came here within a few months after the town had its beginning and it continued to be his home until his removal by death. There was no hour when he was not loyal to its interests or when his best efforts were not given to its growth and development. There was no prominent undertaking during all these years with which he was not identified or in which he did not take a leading part. Born December 12, 1833, in Green county, Ohio, he re- mained there until a lad of six years when his parents removed to Piqna, Ohio, where he lived until 1846, when being left an orphan at the age of thir- teen years, he went to Spring Valley, Ohio, where for the next two years he worked in a woolen mill and brick yard. Removing to Logansport, Ind., he made that city his home for three years, clerking in a store, while the next three were spent at Bloomington, Ill., part of the time as clerk in a store and part of the time as laborer in a brick yard; then still moving west- ward he reached Minnesota in 1854, stopping at St. Anthony Falls, where he put up ice in the winter and ran a restaurant the remainder of the time, always ready to do anything rather than be idle.
In 1855 he came to St. Cloud and still taking hold of whatever job was to be had instead of waiting for something easy to turn up worked for several years in a sawmill and a brick yard. Later he became a general merchant, and during the subsequent years was at different times a dealer in lumber, a real estate agent and a builder. St. Cloud has today more than a score of buildings he erected during his active life. Two of the more important enter-
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prises which he carried to completion, or which were especially due to his energy and enterprise, were the West House, a fine three-story hotel, which burned after it had passed from his ownership, and the dam across the Mis- sissippi river which generates the power that not only lights the city and propels the cars on the street railway but keeps in motion the machinery of most of our manufactories. The success of this last undertaking crowned one of the ambitious purposes of his life and was due to his persistence and indomitable energy.
His father, Caleb West, was born in Connecticut, December 27, 1796, and his mother, Elizabeth Elam, April 14, 1799, in Virginia, their marriage taking place November 25, 1819, in Green county, Ohio. The father was a cabinet maker until 1839, after which he kept a hotel, and here possibly may be discovered an inherited trait which inspired the son with a desire to pro- vide St. Cloud with a fine hotel. Both parents made Ohio their home until their death, the father passing away October 10, 1845, and the mother only a few months later, January 12, 1846.
In the matter of education his opportunities were limited, being con- fined to a few months now and a few months again in the primitive schools of the communities in which his boyhood days were spent, ceasing entirely with six months in a school at Logansport. But what was lacking in these earlier opportunities he made up largely by a keenness of observation, a ready assimilation of facts, a good deal of after reading and a retentive memory, so that he had a good general knowledge of current affairs and was able to grasp readily and comprehensively such situations as required prompt deci- sion and action. Captain West was patriotic to the core and promptly trans- lated his patriotism into active service. August 15, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company I, largely a St. Cloud company, of the Seventh Minne- sota Volunteer Infantry, and remained in active service until the close of the war, being mustered out August 16, 1865. During this time he was pro- moted successively to the office of sergeant the month following his enlist- ment; to be second lieutenant April 1, 1864, and to the captaincy of his com- pany May 26, 1865, and had the unusual record for these three years of not having been off duty by reason of sickness a single day and was absent on furlough only two weeks. He was with his regiment during General Sib- ley's Indian campaign in the summer of 1863, going South that fall and participating the following year in the battle of Tupelo, Miss., in the Oxford raid and the burning of that city; the skirmish at Tallahatchie river; the pursuit of General Price through Arkansas, when a march of three hundred miles, from September 17 to November 24, was made on ten days' rations ; on the chase after General Rice through Missouri; at the battle of Nashville; in the pursuit of General Hood; and at the siege of Mobile was under fire almost continuously from March 25 to April 8, 1865. After his return home and to civil life Captain West was appointed postmaster at St. Cloud, serving from April 15, 1869, to March, 1886, and again from March, 1890, to March, 1894, making a total of twenty-one years. From 1870 to 1883 he was a trustee of the Soldiers' Orphans Home, and from 1883 to 1887 was a director of the St. Cloud Library Board and its president.
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Captain West was married at Bloomington, Ill., in October, 1854, to Al- cetta Francis Mason; at Clearwater, Minn., November 26, 1878, he married Emma Cambell; and July 9, 1896, he married Mary Martha Cambell whose death preceded his by but a few months. There were born as the result of his first marriage three sons, Willis Mason, November 15, 1857; Paul, September 2, 1860; and Max, November 11, 1870. The eldest of these, Willis M., is a member of the faculty of the University of Minnesota; the second, Paul, is a practicing physician located at Roseland, Louisiana; Max, the youngest, died in December, 1909, at Washington, D. C., where he had been engaged for some time in the service of the government as an expert examiner in the Bureau of Corporations.
Captain West had been in feeble health for some months, gradually wast- ing away, until the end came Thursday, November, 1911, when he had almost completed his seventy-eighth year. The funeral services were held the fol- lowing Sunday afternoon, in the Presbyterian Church, under the direction of the Grand Army of the Republic. With his death St. Cloud lost one of its most enterprising and progressive citizens. He was ever on the alert to discover what could be made to aid in the growth and development of his home city, and his time and energies and means were freely given toward making all such enterprises a success. Coming to St. Cloud in the days when pioneering meant privation, when the demand was for stout hearts and will- ing hands, he was ready to meet whatever situation presented itself and make the very best of circumstances. Always buoyant and hopeful, he in- spired his fellow citizens with his own confidence and set an example of progressiveness which was contagious. He loved his country, giving to its service three of the best years of his life, and he loved its flag. He was possessed with a burning desire to have the children of the country grow up to love and honor the emblem of the nation's unity and glory, and it was through over-zealous efforts in this direction that he contracted a sickness which doubtless hastened his death. It was one of his final requests that his coffin should be draped with the flag whose stars and stripes he had so devotedly followed through days of darkness and peril, and that his remains should be borne to their last resting place by his fellow comrades in arms. His memory will long be cherished as that of a good citizen and a brave soldier, and of the Association of Old Settlers he was a most active, valuable and devoted member, whose loss will long be severely felt.
Jacob Vradenberg Brower, archaeologist, ethnologist, explorer, father of the Itasca State Park, discoverer of the utmost visible source of the Missis- sippi river, and one of the world's greatest authorities on the natural history and anthropology of the upper basin of that river, was born on a farm in York, Washtenaw County, Michigan, January 21, 1844, and died in St. Cloud, Minn., June 1, 1905. Between these dates there was spanned a life of useful- ness which added materially to the sum-total of human knowledge.
Birth, ancestry, temperament and environment, all tended to make con- ditions favorable for the wonderful work which Mr. Brower accomplished. His ancestors had been prominent in the colonial affairs of New Amsterdam (New York) to which settlement they had come from Holland in 1642. His
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father was a sturdy pioneer, and his mother a woman of much force, bravery and determination. He himself first saw the light of day in a pioneer country. From the age of sixteen, when he was brought to Long Prairie, Minn., he was thrown in contact with both the Chippewa and the Sioux Indians, and as a boy he heard the ancient traditions of the Chippewas (Ojibways) from his parents' personal friend, Bad Boy, the noble Chippewa sub-chief. Like many other boys of that age he started collecting arrow-heads and relics, but unlike the majority of boys, he never lost his interest in this hobby, and at the time of his death his great regret was that he had not been enabled to com- plete his work in the manner that he would have desired. Though the larger part of his life was spent in Minnesota, and though he had started his col- lection of Minnesota relics as early as 1860, it was nevertheless not in Min- nesota that Mr. Brower began his real scientific work, and it was not until nearly the close of his activity that he confined himself mainly to this state. He became well known in Kansas for his research respecting the route of Coronado in 1541, and the location of the historic Quivira, before he became known as an archaeologist; and his fame in Montana for his survey of the ultimate source of the Missouri river, and in Minnesota for the survey of the basin of Lake Itasca preceded his wide recognition as an ethnologist. His scientific archaeological collecting and the study it entailed, received additional impetus by his geographic explorations and surveys, and at last became his chief aim, and brought him, perhaps, his greatest fame. The result of thirty years of collecting and note taking, together with private papers, and his- torical matter designed for publication was swept away by a fire in St. Paul, December 19, 1896. This was prior to the beginning of that remarkable series of publications, eight volumes in all, which appeared as fast as one a year, en- titled, "Memoirs of Exploration in the Valley of the Mississippi." The first two volumes of this series pertain to Kansas, and are rather geographical and historical than archaeological, and the last pertains to North Dakota, but in all of them the bent of the author to link archaeology with history is evident on nearly every page. One of the most important results of Mr. Brower's archaeological work in Minnesota was the demonstration that the Dakota (Sioux) were the builders of the mounds of the state, this conclusion being contained in his famous work, "Mille Lac."
The conclusion of his studies of Itasca lake, and the basin in which it lies, was the establishment of the Itasca State Park. The Minnesota Historical Society, in 1889, through one of its committees, inaugurated the project of this park, and when it was established by act of the state legislature in 1891, Mr. Brower was appointed its first commissioner. This responsibility brought vexation as well as labor. The park was without an acre of land and had not a cent of money. On the commissioner, therefore, devolved both the creation of the park land and a fund for its proper care. This was finally accomplished with the exercise of consummate skill, patience and perseverance. The effort continued four years under Mr. Brower's guidance, when, in 1895, through political and personal hostility, there was an interruption of favorable con- sideration by the legislature, and a cessation of general interest in the park, during which for four years the continuance of the park wavered in the bal-
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ance. In 1899, however, under the encouragement of Gov. John Lind, aided by William P. Christensen, commissioner of the park, prospects were bright- ened. A survey of the whole area of the park was made by Mr. Brower and Mr. Finney, and the standing timber was estimated. Various tracts owned by private parties were purchased, and added to the public lands of the park. Buildings were erected and roads and bridges constructed. With all this accomplished, and all the difficulties cleared, with the exception that there were still some harassing annoyances by lumber companies which were allowed to "boom" their logs in Lake Itasca, Mr. Brower looked upon Itasca Park with the greatest satisfaction, and with a conviction which has since become a reality, that the park would be a lasting monument to his name. The history of this whole enterprise, with his difficulties and vexations, is set forth by Mr. Brower in Vol. XI of the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, published one year before his death. The park is now an assured and permanent feature in Minnesota's forestry policy.
Mr. Brower's connection with the Minnesota Historical Society began in 1889 through a mutual desire to investigate the then-rumored claim of Capt. Willard Glazier to be the actual discoverer of the source of the Mississippi, a claim which Mr. Brower effectually discredited and disproved in the report which he rendered to the society, published as Vol. VII of its Collections. He labored from 1889 to 1892, after which he gave special attention to the remote sources of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, on each of which he issued a beautifully illustrated report. His report on the sources of the Mississippi was reviewed and in part republished by Emile Levasseur, of the College of France, a distinguished member of the French Academy.
It was during his historie studies of the Spanish accounts of the southwest- ern country, that he became interested in the march of Coronado and the lo- cation of Quivira, and the pursuit of this subject occupied him for several years. His first volume, "Quivira," was addressed to the Historical Society of Kansas, and his second, "Harahey," to the then-governor of the state of Kansas. In handling this subject, Mr. Brower had to do much with the archae- ology of the region, and collected a large number of specimens which he pre- sented to the Minnesota Historical Society. Of a kindred nature with these are his volumes on several Minnesota localities, to wit: Mille Lac, Kathio, Kakabikansing and Minnesota, in each of which Mr. Brower traverses that delicate area which is partly historical and partly archaeological. These four volumes are addressed to the Minnesota Historical Society though copyrighted by Mr. Brower, who by this time had begun to consider the rooms of the so- ciety as his headquarters, as its vaults were a safe place for the safe storage of his specimens and documents. In his next volume, "Kansas," although addressed to the Minnesota Historical Society, he reviews his studies of Coro- nado's journey and emphasizes their results, the culmination of which was the establishment of a granite monument on the site of Quivira, and the organi- zation of the Quivira Historical Society. The last volume of the series was devoted to the "Mandan," and it was not yet delivered by the printer when Mr. Brower's career was cut short by death.
It must not be forgotten that though Mr. Brower's fame in the coming
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centuries will rest upon his scientific work, he also had a public career which alone would have made him one of the leading citizens of this locality. As already noted he was reared in Michigan, and was brought to Long Prairie, Minn., at the age of sixteen. His education was thorough and complete and included surveying and map making. When but nineteen years of age, October 16, 1862, Mr. Brower enlisted in Company D, First Minnesota Mounted Rangers, and participated in several bloody battles. He was mustered out with his company, November 4, 1863. Soon afterward he went to St. Louis, Mo., and entered the government service as a civilian, being sent to Duval's Bluff, Ar- kansas, where he assisted in the erection of government buildings. While working there, he enlisted as a scaman, and was assigned to the "Exchange," one of the Mosquito Fleet. He was mustered out in Angust, 1865. Immediately he returned to Minnesota. When Todd county was organized, January 1, 1867, he became county auditor, though then but twenty-three years of age. In 1870 he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1873. In 1872, while still serving as county auditor, he was elected to the lower house of the Minne- sota Legislature. He served in 1873 and the following year was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives. In the meantime, in 1873, he had been elected county attorney and county superintendent of schools in Todd county. It was in 1873 that he moved his family to St. Cloud, where he thereafter main- tained his residence. In April, 1874, he became register of the United States land office at St. Cloud, still later being appointed receiver, which position he held until 1880. For many years he was a power politically in the county.
The parents of J. V. Brower were Abraham D. and Mary (Stevens) Brower. Originally the name was spelled Brouwer. The father, Abraham D., was a man of broad learning, and imparted much of his culture to his son. The mother, whose death at the age of ninety-four, marked the passing of one of the earliest of the state's pioneers, was the daughter of James Stevens. James Stevens lived in Batavia, New York. He had gone there from Philadelphia, as a surveyor in the employ of the Holland Land Co. Mrs. Mary Brower's mother was Elizabeth Brisbane. Her kinsman, Albert Brisbane, was a follower of the French philosopher, Fournier, and with Emerson, Hawthorne, and others, founded Brooke Farm. Mrs. Brower wrote many papers describing the Indian outbreak in Minnesota, which are of great historic value.
J. V. Brower is now represented in the community by a son and a daughter. Hon. Ripley B. Brower is one of the state's most distinguished attorneys, has done valuable service in the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, and for the past few years, though he has persistently refused to allow his name to be used, has been regarded as the most logical candidate for the governor's chair now living in this state. He is a fluent and graceful orator, and his platform work is widely known. The daughter, Josephine V. Brower, is a lady of broad culture, and was of great assistance to her father in his work. She is now a member of the faculty of the St. Cloud State Normal School. Ar- mina E. Shava, the wife of J. V. Brower, was born in East Prussia, and died December 22, 1904. They were married in 1867.
A large volume entitled "The Aborigines of Minnesota," published by the Minnesota Historical Society, in 1911, is one of the world's standard works on
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archaeology. The book is collated by N. H. Winchell, and is founded on the unfinished work of J. V. Brower, and the field surveys of Alfred J. Hill and T. H. Lewis. The brief memoir here presented is based upon Dr. Winchell's sketch of Mr. Brower presented in that work. In closing his appreciation, Dr. Winchell says:
"Mr. Brower was a man of unique and even picturesque personality, and in his make-up was included a vast fund of energetic efficiency. He was a hard worker, and was ever ready to publish his results when he had once satisfied himself that he had exhausted all means of arriving at the truth. His grasp of individual topics was direct and immediate, often bold and commanding, and his publications were striking, readable and weighty, although somewhat sketchy. His impress on the archaeology of Minnesota and of the Northwest, was correspondingly broad and lasting, and his influence in the Historical So- ciety and with the state legislature in the furtherance of his plans for develop- ing the archaeology of the state, was such that he rarely failed to accomplish what he attempted. He was emphatic and unyielding in his opinions and state- ments. He encountered opposition and made some personal antagonists, but when he died the victory had been won, and he had seen the way opened before him to pursue his researches for a period of years in the manner which he had planned. He had amassed a large amount of archaeological data, the value of which he fully appreciated, but which he was destined not to put in shape for publication. Mr. Brower's whole career was one of pluck, perseverance and success, and he left a creditable record on the history of the state of Minnesota which time will never efface."
P. E. Kaiser, A. M., was born at St. Agatha, Waterloo county, Ontario, Canada, son of Anthony and Caroline (Baumgarden) Kaiser, the former of whom was a general store keeper, hotel proprietor and justice of the peace in Reeve township, that county. P. E. Kaiser graduated from St. Mary's College, at Montreal, Canada, with the degree of A. B. He finished a course in philos- ophy at St. Jerome's, Berlin, Canada, and received the degree of A. M. Fol- lowing this, Mr. Kaiser took a post-graduate course in philosophy and philology at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. In 1871 he came to St. Cloud, and two years later was appointed county superintendent of schools, which office he held successfully until 1880, when he resigned to accept the principal- ship of the independent district school of St. Cloud. He was also organist in the church of the Immaculate Conception. Later he was transferred to the cathedral. He filled the dual position until 1896, after which time he remained prominently identified with the musical and educational circles of the city. For some years he was secretary of the St. Cloud public schools and president of the Associated School Boards of Minnesota. In the year of 1874, Mr. Kaiser, in company with Peter Brick, founded "Der Nordstern," which has since de- veloped into one of the leading and most influential German newspapers in the Northwest. In 1902, Mr. Kaiser again became associated with this paper as its assistant secretary and treasurer. Mr. Kaiser was a gentleman in its truest sense, a finished scholar, linguist and musician; and many of the business men of the city received their training from him. He possessed a life certificate conferred upon him by H. B. Wilson, formerly state superintendent of Minne-
PETER E. KAISER
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sota. During his stay in St. Cloud, many flattering offers were declined by Mr. Kaiser. In 1875 he was tendered the professorship of modern languages at the University of Minnesota, and in 1886 was offered the chairs of Latin and music at the University of Missouri. In 1887 he was offered a position as teacher of German and music in the public schools of St. Paul. Mr. Kaiser died March 8, 1914. The general sorrow over his death was sincerely felt. At that time the "Journal-Press" published the following tribute to his life and character: "Few men merited the title of 'scholar and gentleman' to a better degree than did Professor P. E. Kaiser, whose sudden removal came as a sad shock to the whole community. His courtesy of manner, his appre- ciation of the best in life, his helpful friendliness, his active efforts in educa- tion made him a host of friends. He was an accomplished musician, and was a lover of the best. Other men have gathered more wealth, but few really got more out of life than did he. He appreciated harmony and beauty, and his own life was an illustration of the fact that to be kind and neighborly, to stimulate interest and knowledge in the good, the true and the beautiful were the things worth while. For years he has been doing his duty quietly, cheerfully, hopefully. His presence was ever like a wave of sunshine, and his life was clean and inspiring." Mr. Kaiser married Anna B. Edelbrock, daughter of Joseph and Eva B. (Marthaler) Edelbrock, the former of whom was one of the first merchants in St. Cloud. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser had three children : Otto, who died December 16, 1913; Alma B., who married Dwight Day French, of Superior, Wyoming; and Irma A.
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