History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 27

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110

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since engaged in farming. He is a prominent man in the community, and a popular member of the G. A. R. Mr. Smart is a deep reader, and is especially interested in history, both national and local. He has been chairman of Brockway township for about thirty years, and school clerk for about the same time. In 1878, when the Brockway Cemetery Association was organized, he was elected secretary, a position he still holds. He is the only one left of the original members. Edward J. Smart married Agnes, the daughter of Robert and Agnes (Leach) Russell, who was born in Scotland, and was brought to America at the age of three years by her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Smart have eight children living: Marian, John Frank, Wallace E., Jennie, Edith, Hattie, Robert, and Mildred. Marian married William P. Fifield and lives in Canada. They have five children. John Frank married Myrtle Gates. They have three children, and live in Brainerd, Minn. Wallace E. married Ethel Finlason. They live in Crow Wing county, Minn., and have nine chil- dren. Jennie is the wife of John Gillespe, living in Illinois. Edith married Elwin Ellithorpe. They live in North Dakota, and have three children. Hat- tie lives in Salem, Oregon. She is the wife of Christian Christiansen, and the mother of two children. Robert manages and operates the home farm. Mil- dred lives at home and attends the St. Cloud High School.

H. B. Smart was born about 1818, at Plymouth, Maine, and in 1855 re- moved to Minnesota, settling in the town of Langola, Benton county. He soon afterwards moved to Brockway township, Stearns county, where he re- sided up to the time of his death, the oldest resident of Brockway.

Alphonso Barto, at one time lieutenant-governor of the state of Minne- sota, was born at Hinesburgh, Chittenden county, Vermont, May 27, 1834, son of William R. and Mary (Gage) Barto. The Barto family is of French descent, the American founder of the family, who spelled his name Barteau, having come to this country before the Revolution, in which contest he par- ticipated. The Gage family is of English descent. At the age of three years, Alphonso Barto was taken by his parents to Ferrisburgh, Addison county, Vermont, and there, upon attaining a suitable age, he attended the select school taught by Prof. B. B. Allen. After three or four years under this able instructor, he became a teacher at the age of fifteen, and had charge of win- ter schools some six years. In 1855 he came west and located at Elgin, in Kane county, Ill., and after farming for a while, read law with Mayborne & Brown, of Geneva, in the same state. In August, 1862, Mr. Barto enlisted as a private in Company K, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and by gradual promotions for valor, became captain of that company. He served a little more than three years, participated in sixteen or eighteen engagements, and yet never received a wound. After being mustered out, October 25, 1865, at Rome, Georgia, Captain Barto returned to Elgin, and was soon thereafter elected treasurer of Kane county, for a term of two years. In December, 1869, he settled in Sauk Centre, and took up the practice of law. For some time he was a member of the firm of Miner & Barto; later of Barto & Cal- houn (D. T.), and subsequently of Barto & Barto. Later, his son having been made municipal judge, Mr. Barto formed a partnership with E. M. Kelsey, which continued until his removal to St. Cloud. Captain Barto was

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a member of the lower house of the Minnesota legislature in 1872 and 1873, and in the autumn of 1873 he was elected lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Cushman K. Davis. In this office he presided with dignity over the upper house of the legislature. In 1890 he was appointed register of the land office at St. Cloud, and thereafter made his home there until the time of his death. He was appointed a regent of the University of Minnesota by Gov. David M. Clough, and held that position the remainder of his life. While living in Sauk Centre he held several local positions of trust and honor, such as member of the city council and of the board of education. In 1894 he was chairman of the Republican state convention which nominated Knute Nelson as governor. He was also a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago, which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency. He was a friend and associate of all the men, who in his time, were prominent in the history of Minnesota, and he was a man of public spirit. In the days of his vigor, he was active in political affairs, and was one of the most popular cam- paigners in the Northwest. He filled a large place in the progress of the state, and his decease was mourned by the people in all sections of the North- west. He was grand commander of the G. A. R., grand master of the Minne- sota Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and a prominent member in the local organ- izations of these bodies. At the time of his death he was vice-president of the Merchants' National Bank, of St. Cloud, and until within a few weeks of that time he was vice-president of the Journal-Press Co., of St. Cloud. He was also a member of the Board of Hospital Trustees, and was for two years its president. He died November 4, 1899. During his public career there was never a suspicion of corruption or malfeasance in office, of any sort, breathed against him even by his fiercest political enemies, and he filled every position, great and small, with fidelity and zeal.

At the time of his death the Sauk Centre Herald said of him : "The quiver- ing voice and the moistened eye tell how deeply he was loved in this com- munity, where the greater part of his life has been spent. His was one of the kindliest of natures, and that sympathy which he ever manifested was re- flected back on his dear ones after his death left them so great a sorrow. The story of his life is briefly told, so far as the salient facts are concerned, but that certain other something, intangible and yet permeating his existence and exhaled by his genial nature always and ever, to be felt rather than ex- pressed, no one may adequately describe. His unbounded good will went out to all, high or low, rich or poor, without reserve and without distinction. He was a model husband and father, a true friend, a kind neighbor, a good citizen, and an honest man, and the richest legacy he leaves to his wife and children is an unsullied name."

Mr. Barto was married October 13, 1854, to Harriet E. Hitchcock, of Shoreham, Vermont, who died October 11, 1865. Of the three children whom she left, only one, Lyman R. Barto, of Thompson Falls, Montana, is living. October 17, 1866, Mr. Barto married Charlotte A. Allen, of Elgin, Ill. This union has been blessed with one son, William Allen Barto, of Thomspon Falls, Montana.

Samuel Milton Bruce was born in Ladoga, Montgomery county, Indiana,

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September 9, 1828, son of Charles P. and Angeline (Wright) Bruce. The fam- ily history is a most interesting one. The grandfather, William Bruce, came from Scotland, with three brothers and settled in Virginia, afterward locat- ing in Bruceville, Indiana. The father, Charles Bruce, was twice married. By his first wife, Angeline Wright, he had four children, and by his second wife, Nancy Harrison, he had ten children. Samuel Milton Bruce was reared in Indiana, and obtained a good education in the public schools. In 1850 he went to California, but three years later he was called home by the death of his parents. For some years he engaged in the mercantile business, but failing health caused him to seek a home in the Northwest. Accordingly he came to Minnesota in 1857. From Minneapolis he came to Stearns county with an ox team. He took a claim of 160 acres of government land five and a half miles from what is now Sauk Centre, on the Melrose road. He built a small shanty in order to conform with the legal requirements for holding a claim, but his interests were centered in the village of Sauk Centre. On the present site of the town, the Sauk Centre Townsite Co. had platted the outlines of a town, and had made a squatter's shanty by digging a hole in the bluff near the river and propping up the opening with poles. A dam was being built by Alexander Moore and Edward K. Jacques. Mr. Bruce bought an interest in the townsite company, and he and William T. Dingley erected a log cabin, located on Main street, just across the river from the present business sections. This building served as a hotel for many years. At the first meeting of the Sauk Valley Claim Association, held July 16, 1857, Mr. Bruce was elected president. In the summer of 1858, Mr. Bruce succeeded in getting a postoffice established with Moses W. Adley as postmaster. In the fall of 1858 he went back to Indiana, but returned in the following spring. April 28, 1861, at the first school meeting ever held in Sauk Centre, he was elected clerk. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and by gradual promotions he became lieutenant. To give his war record, in the South, as a prisoner, on parole, and in the Indian campaign in the Northwest, would be to recapitulate the history of the regi- ment up to the early part of 1863. In that year he was sent up to the Red River and Arkansas country, to recruit among the colored people. The re- cruits were mustered in as Company A, 112th U. S. Colored Infantry, with Mr. Bruce as captain. After a short service with his company, he spent nine months in the hospital, and was subsequently discharged for disability. Then he returned to his farm near Sauk Centre. It was in 1872 that he became a clerk in the store of C. M. Sprague, in the village. September 22, 1874, he opened a grocery store on the site still occupied by his buildings. Gradually the business increased, until it became the largest general store in this vicinity. In 1878 he erected a two story brick building, and in 1882 he built two more. The triple building is still standing as a monument to his faith in Sauk Centre. Mr. Bruce was a charter member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows, at various times a commander of the B. R. Palmer Post, G. A. R., and also a member of the Masonic body. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank, and was its vice-president until his death. Mr. Bruce died August 1, 1897, being at that time one of the leading citizens in this part of the county. A

MRS. SARAH E. BRUCE

SinBruce

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man of broad experience, he combined the dignity of the old school with the jovial spirits of the modern business man. He was beloved, trusted and hon- ored, and his death was a distinct loss to the community.

S. M. Bruce was married in December, 1862, while still a Confederate prisoner on parole, to Sarah E. Layman, born in Newfield, Thompkins county, New York, August 11, 1840, one of the thirteen children of Martin and Eliza- beth Layman, who came from New York state to Peoria county, Ill., in 1845, and located in 1854 in Minneapolis, where they both died in 1886, the father at the age of seventy-eight and the mother at the age of seventy-five. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have two children : Minnehaha A. and Florence B. Minnehaha A. married J. L. Mullen, now deceased. They have two children, Bruce H. and Arah Elizabeth. Bruce H. married Ethel Finney, of Waverly, Iowa, and they have one son, George Letmond. Arah Elizabeth married Earl Rose, of Sauk Centre, and they have two children, Letmond Lavina and Alice Angeline. Florence Belle Bruce married George Fish, of Sauk Centre, and they have four children : Paul Bruce, and George Milton, and Clarence and Harry, deceased, twins.

John Jerome Getty, the first permanent settler in the township that bears his name, was born in Onondaga county, New York, September 15, 1821. When very young he lost his mother, and at the age of eight years he secured employment driving mules on the Erie canal tow path. In 1843 he opened a farm in Peoria county, Illinois, where he remained until 1853, when he came to Minnesota. For a year he worked on the farm of Martin Layman, near Minneapolis. Then he went back to Illinois, and remained there until 1857, when he again came to Minnesota. He and John H. Layman came to what is now Getty township, July 6, 1857. Mr. Layman took land in sections 18, 19 and 20, but did not long remain here. Mr. Getty took land in section 19, in the vicinity since known as Getty's Grove. Through his efforts, the first school in the township was established. He increased his original claim of 160 acres to 320 acres and became a successful farmer. Except for the four years of the Civil War, the family home was in Getty's Grove until 1891, when Mr. Getty retired and moved to the city of Sauk Centre. While living on the farm he served in numerous town and school offices, and was also a member of the county board for a while. He died in Sauk Centre, November 12, 1895.

Mr. Getty married Permelia Jane Layman, in October, 1854. She was born in Bethel, New York, January 23, 1831, and died in Sauk Centre, June 1, 1912. There were three children. Fannie E. is now Mrs. George Duncan, of St. Paul, Minn. Margaret A. is the wife of Dr. C. H. Babcock, of New Rock- ford, North Dakota. Charles T. died in infancy.

Henry Boobar was born in Maine, and there spent the early years of his life. In the summer of 1855 he came to Minnesota. In 1858, his wife, and his children, Oliver B., Emma, Charles and Evelyn, joined him. In August, 1860, he brought his family from Minneapolis in an ox-cart, and located in Sauk Centre township, on the Sauk river, a mile from what is now the city of Sauk Centre. Another son, John J., was born in the family home on Main street, in Sauk Centre. He has become prominent in the political history of the county. Henry Boobar spent the remainder of his life in this vicinity.

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At the time of the Indian uprising, he assisted in building the stockade at Sauk Centre. For many years he was on the school board. He was a worthy man, and a friend of every good cause.

Oliver B. Boobar, postmaster at Sauk Centre, was born in Lee township, Penobscott county, Maine, March 22, 1849, son of Henry and Phoebe (Kent- Bolton) Boobar, the pioneers. He was brought to Minnesota by his mother in 1858, and to Stearns county by his parents in 1860. He received his early education in the schools of his neighborhood, and as a youth clerked in various stores, working also for a time in the express department of the old Burbank Stage Co. For some years he conducted a market, part of the time with Jahue Vicory and later with his father. As manager of the general store of H. G. Harrison he did excellent service. It was in 1895 that he became deputy postmaster under Cleveland for W. O. P. Hillsdale. Septem- ber 15, 1900 he was appointed rural carrier, and was carrier for three years. September 3, 1903, he was placed in charge of the Sauk Centre postoffice by the bondsmen of Postmaster C. F. Hendryx, to fill out that gentleman's unexpired term. Mr. Boobar was regularly appointed to the office by Presi- dent Theodore Roosevelt, December 13, 1903; was reappointed by Roosevelt, January 9, 1908; and by President William Howard Taft, January 15, 1912. He was town clerk of Sauk Centre two years, following Dean Statler, and in 1900 took the United States census in this locality. He has been chaplain of Sauk Centre Lodge, No. 34, I. O. O. F., for a considerable period. Mr. Boobar was married December 22, 1874, to Ellen M. Fuller, who was born in Stowe, Vermont, December 26, 1842, daughter of James Madison and Altha T. Fuller. The parents brought her to Minneapolis when she was thirteen years of age, making the journey from Dubuque to St. Paul by boat, and from St. Paul to Minneapolis by team. A year and a half later, the Fuller family settled on a claim across the Clearwater river from the village of Clearwater. There they endured all the hardships incident to pioneer life. Opportunities for education were limited, but Ellen M. Fuller, as she was then called, studied first with a clergyman who had settled in the neighborhood, later entered a private academy at Monticello, in Wright county, and finally, in 1863, became a student at Hamline University, then located in Red Wing, Goodhue county, this state. After seven months there, she and a companion went to Ft. Pickens, Memphis, Tenn., where they were employed in a Freed- men's school. There her experiences were varied and thrilling, and she often had to seek safety on the gunboats. Physically frail, she was compelled to move further north after several months, and taught school at Atlanta, Ill. Subsequently she visited relatives in Illinois, and then in 1865 returned to the home of her parents. For some time she alternately taught school and attended the St. Cloud State Normal school. In 1872 she became a teacher in the old two-room school in Sauk Centre as principal of the primary depart- ment. It was with pride that in the following years she watched the progress of this school. At the time of her marriage in 1874 she retired from teach- ing but she never lost her interest in education. In religious matters she was also an active worker. Uniting with the Congregational Church at Clearwater at the age of eighteen, she later transferred her membership to Sauk Centre,

MR. AND MRS. O. B. BOOBAR

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where for many years she was a beloved Sunday school teacher. In January, 1893, she was made a life member of the Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior. In this branch of work she never faltered until compelled by fail- ing health to retire from active service. Mrs. Boobar was one of the charter members of the Gradatim club, and was its moving spirit for many years. Although she had no children, there lived with her for many years the wife of L. J. Irish, and the feeling between the two was that of mother and daughter. After a long period of failing health, and four weeks of intense suffering, Mrs. Boobar passed away, December 7, 1913. The newspapers in this vicinity vied with each other in paying respect to her life, character and work. One of the touching tributes offered was as follows: "In her married and home-making life, Mrs. Boobar was particularly happy. No woman ever had a more devoted, unselfish and attentive husband. Although deprived in after life of the privilege of active social intercourse because of frailty and ill health, she never lost interest in all that was going on. Widely read and observant, she always proved a wise counselor and a firm friend to all things pertaining to the advancement of the common good."

George Blaksley is one of the foremost patriots of Stearns county. Him- self a veteran of the Civil war, he laid the lives of his three sons upon his country's altar. George Blaksley was born July 16, 1826, in Goram town- ship, Ontario county, New York, a son of William and Maria (De Grau) Blaksley; and grandson of Eben Blaksley. William Blaksley was born in Vermont. He was a cooper and farmer. His wife was a native of New York state. William Blaksley died in Ontario county, New York. Eben Blaksley was born in Vermont, and served in the Colonial navy during the Revolu- tionary war. He died in Steuben county, New York, and is buried at Platts- burg, in that state. George Blaksley was educated in a log schoolhouse, and became a farmer and lumberman. August 23, 1862, he enlisted in Co. D, 161st New York Vol. Inf. His sons, Abram and George F., had enlisted the day before, and he had them assigned to his company. Mr. Blaksley followed the fortunes of his regiment until sent to the hospital, from which he was discharged for disability, January 23, 1863. September 3, 1864, he enlisted in Co. A, 189th New York Vol. Inf., and served with that regiment until mustered out, May 30, 1865. To give his war record would be to recapitulate the history of his companies during the periods of his enlistment. The son, Abram, was killed aboard the gunboat "Saxon" while his company was being transported. The son, George F., died in a hospital in New Orleans. Another son, Venus P., who enlisted later than the others, in the 161st New York Vol. Inf., also died in a hospital in New Orleans. After the war George Blaksley returned to his home in New York state. In 1877 he came to Minne- sota and took a homestead of 80 acres in Raymond township, where he followed farming until 1881, then he sold the farm and retired to Sauk Centre village.

By his first wife, Martha Brown, George Blaksley had five children: Abram, George F., Venus, Sylvester and William. By his second wife, Charlotte Dyken, he had two children: Hattie, the wife of Charles Mellen, of Portland, Oregon; and John, a resident of Jerusalem, Yates county, New

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York. By his third wife, George Blaksley had four children: Alice, wife of Frank Hensley, of North Dakota; Bess, widow of David Marshall and wife of George Ferris; Etta, wife of Ed. Bain, of Minneapolis; and Lottie, deceased.

September 4, 1901, George Blaksley married Hanna M. Jones, who was born July 2, 1849, and was married May 19, 1864 to Sidney Neal, who died February 13, 1901.

Sidney Neal and Hanna M. (Jones) Neal had six sons: Frank W., who was born April 30, 1865, was married to Maude A. Newell, September 30, 1891, and was killed in Missouri January 27, 1914; Charles A., who was born February 21, 1870, and was married November 24, 1898, to Edna B. Staples; Vernon J., who was born September 5, 1871, and was married September 26, 1897, to Clementine M. Roarman; Bert D., who was born June 25, 1876; Allen G., who was born May 7, 1885; and Sidney, who was born October 5, 1888 and died December 1, 1891. By his marriage with Eliza Stanton, Sidney Neal had one son, James W., born September 13, 1859.

Charles Brown, a substantial citizen of Sauk Centre, was born in Canada, October 11, 1843, and there spent his boyhood. As a young man he came to Minnesota and cast his fortunes with the people of this state. February 27, 1864, he enlisted in Co. I, Ninth Minn. Vol. Inf., and went south with the regiment. He showed his valor as a soldier in several engagements, and on June 12, 1864, was captured at the Battle of Guntown. Then began a period of nine months' imprisonment. From Andersonville he was transferred to Mellen's Station, from there to Florence, South Carolina, and thence to Wil- mington, North Carolina, where he was paroled. He was discharged at St. Paul, July 12, 1865. Some thirty years ago Mr. Brown came to Sauk Centre, and devoted some fourteen years to farming. Later he moved to Sauk Centre, where he and his good wife are now engaged in the restaurant and hotel business.

Mr. Brown was married May 28, 1875, to Matilda Moore, of Henderson, Minn., born December 4, 1857. They have five children. Charles A., of Mandan, North Dakota, was born September 8, 1876, and is now in the rail- road business; Annie L. was born September 18, 1877, and is now the wife of Harry Hamilton, a railroad engineer located at Melrose. Edward R. was born October 28, 1879. He is a plumber and steamfitter located at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Edna I. was born May 28, 1882. She is the wife of George Butler, of Sauk Centre. Leslie J. was born March 8, 1885. He is a plumber and lives at home.

Joseph Capser, one of the pioneers of Stearns county, was born in Bavaria, March 5, 1831, and came to America in 1846 with his father, who was engaged as a land agent and surveyor. Joseph spent his youth in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania. In 1858 he located on a farm near St. Cloud, in Stearns county, Minnesota, and in 1864 came to Sauk Centre, being the first German settler in the township. He found here a small cluster of houses, protected by the stockade which the settlers had erected as a barricade against the Indians. Solomon Pendergast was selling a little merchandise inside of the stockade but had nothing which could be dignified by the name of a

MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH CAPSER

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real store. Mr. Capser erected a log building outside of the stockade, and started the first store proper in Sauk Centre. The store was located at about what is now the corner of Birch and Eighth street. About a year and a half later he moved the store to a building which he had erected on the present site of the Merchants' National Bank. Altogether Mr. Capser was in business twenty-eight years. With him was associated C. M. Sprague, first as a clerk and later as a partner. Even as early as January 28, 1869, the Sauk Centre "Herald" contained the following item: "At first Mr. Capser's sales were small, but by a strict attention of business and a straightforward and honor- able course in all his dealings with everyone, rich or poor, he has brought his trade up to a point that is second to none in the same line in this county, his sales the past year having amounted to $59,334.58. In this connection we cannot refrain from saying that Mr. Capser has been prominent in bringing the trade at Sauk Centre to its present high reputation for fair dealing." Commencing $4,000 in debt, he soon found himself with balanced books and in time acquired a competence.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II, Part 27

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 1110

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1110