USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 2
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The county is drained to the Mississippi river by tributary streams ar- ranged as follows in their order from north to south: The south branch of Two rivers, Spunk brook, Watab river, Sauk river, St. Augusta (or John- ston's) creek, Plum creek, Clearwater river and the North Fork of the Crow river. The largest of these is Sauk river, whose basin includes about half of the county, its principal affluents being Ashley and Getchell creeks from the north and Silver, Ashley, Stony, Cole and Mill creeks from the south. The North Fork of the Crow river drains the southwestern part of the county.
One third is prairie, partly level and partly rolling, but with few eleva- tions in any part. There is nothing in the county which rises beyond the modest dignity of hills, and these are practically all in the timbered localities.
Less than one-twelfth is not suited for actual cultivation, and much that is thus excepted is composed of sloughs which can be converted into meadows, and stony knolls serviceable for pasturage.
Pure water is readily obtained in practically any and every part of the county by means of wells, the depth varying from 15 to 75 feet, in a few lo- calities it has been found necessary to go to a depth of 100 feet before a reliable flow of pure water is obtained. Most of the wells are in sand, gravel and pebbles, but some pass through till and hardpan. In many localities are springs, which furnish a constant and accessible supply of water which can- not be excelled for purity. Of the wells of the more moderate depths many are spring-fed and the supply of water seldom fails even in the dryest weather.
The two hundred lakes which add to the scenic beauty of Stearns county are fairly evenly distributed, practically every township in the county having
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one or more of these lovely sheets of water. The lakes, the groves, the rivers and the creeks in the county entitle it to the place it holds as one of the most attractive parts of the Park Region of Minnesota. The more noteworthy of these lakes with their location are as follows: Sauk Centre-Sauk, Cedar, McCormic. Melrose-Middle Birch, Sylvia, Stub, Hartnett's, Clear. Mill- wood-Mary, Birch Bark, Cedar, Long, Kirig's, Swamp, Wolf. Krain-St. Anna, Beautiful, St. Mary, Vos, Fish, Bear, Leitner. Holding-Two River. Le Sauk-Watab. Brockway-Shepard's. Avon-Pelican, Pine, Lower, Mid- dle and Upper Spunk, Kepper, Anna, Linneman, Minnie, Ahman's. St. Wen- del-Watab. Albany-North, Fifth, Sand. Oak-Uhlenkott's, Maria, Fre- vel's, Sand, Getchell's, Metzger's. Grove-Black Oak, Isabella, Ellering's. Raymond-Sand. Lake George-Lake George. St. Martin-Gravel. Farm- ing-Big and Little Rice, Clear, Henn. Collegeville-St. Louis (on the shores of which is located St. John's University), Big Fish, Long, Sand, Stump, Island, Big Watab, Little Watab, Thomas, Petts, Kreighle, Eagle, Schuman. St. Joseph-Kraemer. St. Augusta-Block, Beaver. Rockville-Grand, Pleas- ant. Wakefield-Great Northern, Kray's Knaus, Parr, Bolfings, Zumwaldes, Koetter, Cedar Island, Schneider's-constituting a chain of lakes through which Sauk river runs, and is navigable for gasoline or steam launches, mak- ing a very attractive trip. Munson-Horse Shoe, Big, Becker, Schroederl, Cedar Island, Thien. Lake Henry-The lake from which this township orig- inally derived its name has dried up. Crow Lake-Crow, Tamarac, Halvor- son's Fish, Grass. Paynesville-Karonis, Rice. Eden Lake-Eden, Rice, Long, Brown's. Maine Prairie-Pearl, Cornelian, Goodner's Island, School Section, Morey, Day's, Willow. Fair Haven-Lake Lura, parts of Clear- water, Augusta, Caroline, Maria, Louise on the southern line, and of Beaver on the northern. Lynden-Long, Crooked, Maria, Holman's, Belle, Warner's and Fuller's, with parts of Clearwater, Grass and Centre.
The altitude of the surface of the county, as given by the Great Northern railway officials, increases steadily and gradually from the southern to the northern boundary, except at Freeport, where the elevation gains rapidly. At the mouth of the Clearwater river it is 956 feet; at St. Augusta, 1,008; at St. Cloud, 1,029; at St. Joseph, 1,080; at Collegeville, 1,087; at Avon, 1,124; at Albany, 1,194; at Freeport, 1,234; at Melrose, 1,204; at Sauk Centre, 1,248.
Stearns county was generously endowed by nature with the elements most essential to the growth, development and prosperity of a state, or any of its subdivisions. It has a rich soil-a warm loam which responds readily to the stimulating action of air and moisture, underlaid by clay which main- tains the soil's durability. It has both forests and open land fairly distrib- uted, by which the farmer is enabled to supply himself with timber for fuel and building uses and with open land for cultivation. It is well watered by rivers and creeks-the Mississippi river, the Sauk river, the North Fork of the Crow river and the Watab river passing along its border or meandering tortuously through township after township, as though purposeful to do the greatest good to the greatest number. Within its boundaries are more than two hundred beautiful lakes, most of which are fringed by woods, adding to the scenic attractions of the neighborhood as well as affording food for the
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settler and rare sport for the angler, as all are abundantly stocked with fish -bass, pike, croppies, pickerel and other varieties. There are also a number of trout streams, which in the season attract those best skilled in the use of the rod and line. It is the policy of the state to furnish free of cost "fry" of the most desirable kinds of fish, so that the lakes and streams may always be kept well stocked.
The surface of the country is gently rolling, there being few high hills and very little waste land. There are thousands of acres of meadows from which nutritious hay is made, although most farmers are raising the tame grasses, both for hay and for the enriching of their land. The natural roads are good, but an intelligent policy of road building has been adopted by the state which will be of great advantage to all the counties, even to counties such as Stearns where the character of the soil lends itself readily to good- roads purposes. A liberal state fund, to be supplemented by local taxes, will provide means by which in a very few years these county roads can be made equal to the best.
The rural telephone reaches practically every farm house, which with rural mail delivery, places the farmer in close touch with the great markets and with the current of affairs of the outside world. There is no longer any isolation such as existed in the early days when pioneering meant privation; no longer any need for the denial of many of the luxuries as well as the com- forts of life. The farmer can have his daily newspaper and his daily market reports ; he can have the advantage of the circulating library, and his table can be supplied with whatever the village or city market may have to offer. The changes of the half century have been more marked in scarcely any direc- tion than in the conditions which surround life on the farm. The plodding ox which did the field and farm work has disappeared; the gang plow, the mower, the seeder, the harvester and the steam thresher are doing the work so laboriously and imperfectly done by the scythe, the cradle, the hand- sower, the flail and the horse-power thresher. The buggy, the carriage and now the automobile are almost universal among the conveniences of the farm, while the sewing machine, the organ and the piano are familiar objects in the inner life of the farm home. The future doubtless holds still more in the way of conveniences and comforts, but it can give nothing beyond what the great service the farmer has rendered and is rendering the country in the way of its development merits. There cannot but be deep regret, however much it is in the nature of things, that so few of those who bore the heat and burden of the day in the years of beginnings, have survived to enjoy the fruits which their labors produced. "Their epitaphs are writ in furrows."
"Deep and wide The wheels of progress have passed on : The silent pioneer is gone. His ghost is moving down the trees, And now we push the memories Of bluff, bold men who dared and died In foremost battle, quite aside."
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
Stearns county is the fourth in population in the state, being exceeded only by the counties of Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis, in which are located the three large cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth. Aside from these three counties, which may fairly be eliminated in a matter of comparison, this county stands at the head of the counties of the state.
The first census of Stearns county was taken in 1856, by Addison Gilmore, who was both assessor and census taker. The total number of inhabitants then reported was 2,840. What became of the original of that census is ap- parently an unsolvable mystery. It is not in any of the departments at the state capitol. It cannot be in Washington, as it was not a government census. It is not in any discoverable place in the court house. It may possibly be hidden underneath the piles of unassorted and unassortable documents of past years which are in the vaults, and when a new court house is built with proper accommodations for the arranging of papers and documents it may be brought to light, and when found-if ever-it will be a document of ex- ceeding interest and value.
The first government census was that of 1860, which was taken by the late C. Grandelmyer. Unfortunately it was taken as a whole, instead of by township subdivisions, with the population of the towns and villages given separately. The showing as to the population of the county at that time was as follows: The total population as first published was given as 4,059 (but in the official report issued later by the census department it is 4,505), of whom there were white males, 2,451; white females, 2,056; colored females, 2; num- ber of families, 1,050; number of dwelling houses, 1,257; number of persons attending school during previous year, 428; number of blind persons, 1; there were no deaf and dumb, insane, idiotic, paupers or convicts. The number both of families and dwellings were greater in Stearns county than the average in the state at large-the latter very considerably greater. The native-born population numbered 1,457, of whom much the larger proportion, 316, were born in Maine; New York following with 280; Pennsylvania, 128; Vermont, 81; Massachusetts, 70; dropping to New Jersey and Delaware each 2 and Alabama and the District of Columbia 1 each. The total number of foreign- born was 1,956, of whom 866 came from Prussia, 667 from the rest of Ger- many, 75 from Ireland, 74 from Canada, 49 from England, 58 from France, 42 from Switzerland, 41 from Austria and 21 from Norway and Sweden. In 1870 the total population was 14,206; in 1880, it was 21,956; in 1890, it was 34,844; in 1900 it was 44,464; and in the last census, that of 1910, it was 47,733.
While the per cent of increase for the decade between 1890 and 1900 was 27.6, in the decade following it was only 7.4 per cent. This falling off was due largely, indeed wholly, to the fact that immigration, lured by the inducements held out by less thickly settled localities to the west and by the activity of Canadian land agents, went further to fare worse. Many who had already taken farms in this county were induced by the bewildering offers of "cheap lands" to pull up and try their fortune in new fields-too often having decided in haste to repent at their leisure. The per cent of increase has been least in the rural districts, where for the ten years preceding 1900
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it was only 3.3 per cent, while in the cities-those having a population of 2,500 and over-the increase was 23.0 per cent.
Of the population in 1900 the native-born was 11,404, or 25.6 per cent of the whole; in 1910 it was 15,465 or 32.4 of the whole. From the beginning of its settlement Stearns county has been an attractive field for Germans, who came in large numbers, some townships being almost wholly occupied by set- tlers of that nationality. They have made a most desirable class of people -sturdy, industrious, honest and thrifty. The census statistics for 1910 show that this condition has persisted, out of the total population of 47,733, there being 15,626 Germans of foreign and native birth, or over 32 per cent of the whole. The various foreign-born nationalities in the country are as follows, the first number after each country being the ones born in a foreign country and the second number being those who had both parents born in a foreign country but who themselves were born in the United States: Ger- many, 5,315, 10,311; Austria, 678, 695; Norway, 523, 846; Sweden, 439, 428; Denmark, 94, 123; England, 122, 101; Canada, 341, 198; Ireland, 148, 356; Switzerland, 81, 68; Holland, 188, 97; Italy, 349, 4; Hungary, 188, 217; Greece, 89, 0.
Of the total population 24,783 are males and 22,950 are females, show- ing a fairly equal proportion. The number of males who are of voting age is 11,987. Of the foreign-born males 3,355 are naturalized, 186 have taken out their first papers, 637 are aliens, while as to 646 no information is given.
In the matter of illiteracy the showing is very creditable. Of the males of voting age but 512 cannot read or write, this being 4.3 per cent of the total number. Of these 81, or 1.1 per cent, are native-born, and 431, or 8.9 per cent, are foreign-born. The total number of inhabitants ten years old and over is 35,234, of whom 972 are illiterate, being 2.8 per cent. Of this total 26,539 are native-born; illiterate, 225; per cent, 0.8. Foreign-born, 8,681; illiterate, 747; per cent, 8.6. The number of persons in the county of school age, that is from 6 to 20 years, is 17,586, of whom 11,920 attend school, being 67.8 per cent.
The year 1870 was the first in which the local subdivisions of the county were given, and they were as follows:
1870 .- Albany, 231; Avon, 211; Brockway, 478; Croun Creek (appears in Census report but there was no such township), 197; Eden Lake, 244; Fair Haven, 320; Getty, 366; Grove, 424; Lake Henry, 159; Linden, 270; Le Sauk, 268; Luxemburg, 237; Maine Prairie, 621; Melrose, 269; Munson, 795; North Fork, 280; Oak, 478; Paynesville, 318; Raymond, 305; Rockville, 403; Sauk Centre, 1,155; St. Augusta, 570; St. Cloud (township), 582; St. Cloud, 2,161; (First Ward, 553; Second Ward, 455; Third Ward, 794; Fourth Ward, 369) ; St. Joseph, 868; St. Martin, 556; St. Wendell, 356; Wakefield, 613; Zion, 471.
Population of the townships, villages and cities in Stearns county, as shown by the last government census, that of 1910: Albany township, 966; Albany village, 657; Ashley township, 533; Avon township (1), 758; Avon village (1), 277; Belgrade village, 448; Brockway township, 1,244; Brooten village, 562; Cold Spring village, 594; Collegeville township, 606; Crow Lake
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township, 438; Crow River township, 492; Eden Lake township, 899; Eden Valley village (part of), 287; Fairhaven township, 623; Farming township, 956; Freeport village, 450; Getty township, 605; Grove township, 685; Holding township, 1,343; Holding village, 276; Kimball Prairie village, 312; Krain township, 1,329; Lake George township, 678; Lake Henry township, 606; Le Sauk township, 278; Luxemburg township, 1,117; Lyden township, 388; Maine Prairie township, 1,106; Meire Grove village, 163; Melrose city, 2,591; (Ward 1, 1,291; Ward 2, 1,300) ; Melrose township, 768, Millwood township, 894; Munson township, 817; New Munich village, 190; North Fork township, 577; Oak township, 721; Paynesville township (2), 459; Paynesville village (2), 901; Raymond township, 494; Richmond village, 563; Rockville township (3), 535; Rockville village (3), 127; St. Augusta township, 766; St. Cloud city (4), 10,600; (Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4, 8,611) ; St. Cloud township (4), 654; St. Joseph township, 721; St. Joseph village, 706; St. Martin township, 601; St. Martin village, 177; St. Wendel township, 643; Sartell village (5), 240; Sauk Centre city, 2,154 (Ward 1, 784; Ward 2, 1,370) ; Sauk Centre township, 578; Spring Hill township, 653; Spring Hill village (6), 100; Waite Park village, 406; Wakefield township, 735; Zion township, 675. (1) Avon village made in- dependent of Avon township in 1900. (2) Part of New Paynesville village annexed in 1904. (3) Rockville village incorporated from part of Rockville township in 1903. (4) Part of St. Cloud city detached and annexed to St. Cloud township in 1908. (5) Sartell village incorporated from part of Le Sauk township in 1907. (6) Spring Hill village incorporated from part of Spring Hill township in 1900.
The statistics as to farm homes and conditions contained in the report of the United States census for 1910 give much valuable information. The total number of homes in Stearns county, with a population of 47,733, was 8,661, of which 4,162 were farm homes, 2,207 being owned by their occupants and free, 1,240 were encumbered and 699 were rented. This would give an average of 5.5 persons to each home.
Of the 4,499 homes in the county, not on farms, 2,143 were owned by their occupants and free, 443 encumbered and 1,736 were rented.
The number of farms was 4,255, ranging in size as follows: Under 3 acres, 10; from 3 to 9 acres, 35; from 10 to 19 acres, 57; from 20 to 49 acres, 267; from 50 to 99 acres, 618; from 100 to 174 acres, 1,498; from 175 to 259 acres, 1,034; from 260 to 499 acres, 667; from 500 to 999 acres, 62; with but one farm of 1,000 acres and over. The average of all these farms was 178.9 acres, of which 106.3 acres was improved. As will be seen, the majority of farms were between 100 and 260 acres each.
The approximate land area was 871,680 acres, of which 761,242 acres was in farms. The improved land in farms was 452,316 acres; woodland, 158,665 acres; other unimproved land, 150,261.
Of the farmers occupying these lands 2,225 were native white and 2,030 foreign-born white.
While the number of farms in the county decreased from 4,449 in 1900 to 4,255 in 1910 (doubtless by purchase and merging), the area in farms increased 29,919 acres and the improved land, 31,888 acres.
MR. AND MRS. F. J. LORINSER
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The number of farms operated by their owners in 1910 was 3,551; as against 3,701 in 1900. This class of farms included 610,004 acres, of which 356,814 acres were improved; the value of the land and the buildings being $12,524,277. Of these farms, 522 included some rented land. The owners were 1,711 native white and 1,840 foreign-born white-this item and another following showing that the number of foreign-born whites owning their own farms, as compared with tenancy, was relatively larger than those owned by native whites.
The number of farms operated by tenants in 1910 was 682 as against 721 in 1900, showing a slight decrease during the decade, doubtless going to add to the ownership column. These farms included 140,248 acres, of which 91,024 acres were improved; the value of the land and buildings being $5,272,740. Of these tenants, 502 were on shares, 40 share-cost, 110 cash, 30 tenure not specified. In nationality, 499 were native white and 183 foreign-born white.
Managers operated 22 farms as against 27 in 1900; these farms having 10,990 acres, of which 4,468 acres were improved, the value of the land and buildings being $377,210.
Of the farms operated by the owners 2,187 were free of mortgage debt, while 1,339 were encumbered, 25 making no report. Of the farms consisting of owned land only, 1,047 reported their land and buildings as having a value of $6,090,221, with a mortgage indebtedness of $1,613,488, or 26.5 per cent.
The value of all farm property was $34,548,484 in 1910, as against $18,- 633,814 in 1900, showing an increase in the decade of 85.4 per cent. Of this increase that in lands went from $13,022,280 in 1900 to $24,361,627 in 1910; buildings, from $2,619,020 to $4,745,474; implements and machinery, $744,390 to $1,374,117; domestic animals, poultry and bees, from $2,248,124 to $4,067,- 266. The average value of farm land per acre in 1900 was $17.81; in 1910, it was $32.00.
The number of farms reporting domestic animals was 4,184, or within 71 of the total number, showing that the percentage of farmers too poor or too non-progressive to have stock was almost negligible. The total value of these animals was $3,959,713.
Cattle-Total number, 68,428; dairy cows, 36,272; other cows, 5,399; year- ling heifers, 8,870; calves, 10,722; yearling steers and bulls, 4,475; other steers and bulls, 2,600; value, $1,358,725.
Horses-Total number, 19,678; mature horses, 17,311; yearling colts, 1,935; spring colts, 432; value, $2,235,982.
Mules-Total number, 124; mature mules, 119; yearling colts, 4; spring colts, 1; value, $13,620.
Swine-Total number, 40,476; mature hogs, 19,962; spring pigs, 20,514; value, $306,068.
Sheep-Total number, 13,060; rams, ewes and wethers, 8,596; spring lambs, 4,464; value, $43,328.
Goats-Number, 401; value, $1,990.
Poultry-Number of all kinds, 287,632; value, $102,481.
Bees-Number of colonies, 1,338; value, $5,072.
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A total of 1,637 head of cattle, valued at $47,171; 1,853 horses, value $220,439; mules, 9, value $950; swine, 309, value $2,930; sheep and goats, 19, value $82, were in inclosures not on farms.
In the item of expenses for the year 1909, 2,513 farms reported having paid $403,121 for labor; rent and board furnished, $147,653. Seventeen farms reported an expenditure of $771 for fertilizers. On farms having a good supply of stock the necessity of purchasing fertilizers-and then only for some special use-is reduced to the minimum. For feed 1,268 farms reported an expenditure of $72,827, with $325,181 received from the sale of feedable erops.
The total value of all crops for the year 1909 was $5,384,327, of which $4,178,967 came from cereals; $161,822 from other grains and seeds; $617,326 from hay and forage; $219,733 from vegetables; $12,906 from fruits and nuts; $193,573 from all other crops.
The total acreage given to cereals was $264,842, the product being 7,008,- 396 bushels. Of this corn had 38,167 acres, yield 1,215,007 bushels; oats 72,695 acres, yield 2,694,415 bushels; wheat 116,052, yield 2,180,607 bushels; emmer and spelt 125 acres, yield 3,449 bushels; barley 23,597 acres, yield 654,100 bushels; buckwheat 70 acres, yield 1,286 bushels; rye 14,136 acres, yield 259,532 bushels; dry peas 131 acres, yield 3,344 bushels; dry edible beans 27 acres, yield 732 bushels; flaxseed 8,438 acres, yield 90,161 bushels. It will be observed that wheat still leads all the other cereals in acreage, being followed by oats, corn and rye in the order here given.
Of hay and forage the total acreage was 108,234, with a yield of 162,200 tons. The acreage given to all tame and cultivated grasses was 31,133, tons of hay 50,001; timothy alone 12,156 acres, tons hay 18,215; timothy and clover mixed 9,745 acres, 16,921 tons hay ; clover alone 2,235 acres, tons hay 3,644; alfalfa 40 acres, tons hay 73; millet or Hungarian grass 324 acres, tons hay 396; other tame or cultivated grasses 6,733 acres, tons hay 10,752; wild, salt or prairie grasses 75,078 acres, tons hay 100,587; grains cut green 40 acres, tons 87; coarse forage 1,967 acres, tons 5,466.
Potatoes 3,938 acres, yield 486,540 bushels; all other vegetables 1,394 acres; sugar beets 47 acres, yield 591 tons; maple trees 244, from which 56 gallons of sirup was made; sorghum cane 65 acres, with 441 tons of cane, making 5,854 gallons of sirup.
The total number of fruit trees growing was 19,007, giving 8,337 bushels of crop. Of these trees 14,261 were apple, and the yield 8,148 bushels; 3,739 plums, yield 143 bushels; cherries 882, yield 39 bushels; and one lonesome peach tree, with a reported yield of one bushel. Its locality is not given. Some years ago a peach tree in bearing was in the Stager nursery at Sauk Rapids, and was a curiosity. It was carried through the winter by the branches being bent down and all deeply covered. However, it died young, meeting the fate which usually befals the good. Further climatic changes will be required before peaches become a usual or profitable fruit crop in Minnesota. Of grapes there were 947 vines, yielding 4,440 pounds; straw- berries 12 acres, with a yield of 14,757 quarts; raspberries 6 acres, yield 5,852 quarts; nuts 157 trees, yield 350 pounds.
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
Stearns county holds its primacy in the matter of wealth as well as in that of population. Its taxable property valuation in 1913-the latest report available-$18,144,916, is exceeded by that of only four counties, with which no fair comparison can be made, viz. Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis, in which are the three large cities of the state, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, and Itasca with its many developed iron mines. In the list of the agricultural counties of the state, Stearns stands first. The total number of acres assessed was 850,087.45, the average value being $12.75. The average rate of taxation in the county was 30.60 mills, only 31 out of the 86 counties in the state having as low a rate, while a number exceeded 40 and 50 mills, one having a rate of 61.50 and another 72.34 mills.
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