USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 78
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April 25 .- Nicholas J. Weber, who had been a resident of Stearns county since 1857, first on a farm six miles from St. Cloud on the Luxemburg road and after- wards in this city, died this morning at his home here, aged 60 years.
May 2 .- Mrs. Leslie W. Allen, of route No. 1, running out from St. Cloud and the
first rural route mail carrier to enter serv- ice in the county, has resigned her po- sition.
May 9 .- Valentine Wetzel, an old resi- dent of the county, died at St. Raphael's Hospital Saturday, after a lingering illness, aged 84 years.
Continuous rain the past few days, be- ginning with a cloud-burst, have done sev- eral thousands of dollars damage in this city and vicinity. The rainfall was 3.70 inches. Many basements in the business district were flooded.
A. L. Elliott, who had been a resident of Paynesville since 1857, was the first as- sessor of the old town of Verdale, which comprised a large part of western Stearns, was postmaster of the village for 15 years and filled many local offices, died Friday last, aged 79 years.
May 16 .- The ninth annual meeting of the Sixth District Group of Bankers was held at Little Falls yesterday. A banquet was given at the Buckman House in the evening, with John Wetzel toastmaster.
June 20 .- Mrs. Mary Magdaline Braun, widow of Xavier Braun, died Wednesday of last week at the age of over 93 years, after having lived on a farm two miles south of this city 57 years, less the past few years when she had made her home with her daughters in St. Cloud. She leaves five living children, 51 grandchild- ren and 43 great grandchildren.
June 27 .- Caspar Capser had reached the 84th year of his age when he died this morning at his home at St. Joseph. He came to Stearns county in 1855 on a tour of inspection, returning in 1859 to make his home at St. Joseph. He served two terms in the legislature; took an active part in the incorporation of the village of St. Joseph and was its president for eight years; was one of the organizers of the Old Settlers' Association and its first presi- dent.
J. W. Watson, who came to Sauk Rapids almost 40 years ago and engaged in busi- ness, being president of the bank for sev- eral years, died there suddenly this morn- ing, at the age of 80 years.
July 4 .- Nehemiah P. Clarke, of this city, after an illness which had continued for several years, died at his home in this city Saturday, aged 76 years. He had
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come to St. Cloud in 1856 and at once be- came active in business, which expanded during the years until it included merchan- dising, lumbering, transportation, bank- ing and stock-raising. In the latter he took great pride, and cattle and horses, imported and of his own raising, swept the prizes wherever exhibited, and his efforts to improve the stock of the farmers of the state were productive of great good.
August 1 .- The Northwestern Monumen- tal Dealers and Granite men had a two days' session in this city, beginning on Thursday and adjourning on Friday of last week. Twenty-three delegates and 43 wholesalers and producers were present from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Wisconsin. A very interesting ad- dress on the origin and value of granite was given by Prof. O. Bowles, of the state geological department.
August 15 .- H. C. Barrett, who located on a farm in the township of Lynden nearly 50 years ago, died Friday afternoon at Clearwater, which had latterly been his home, aged 78 years.
William Albrecht, a resident of Minne- sota for 54 years and of St. Cloud for 39, died at his home in this city Tuesday, aged 84 years.
August 22 .- Mathias Pent, aged 83, died Sunday at Maine Prairie, where he made his home 48 years ago.
September 5 .- Mrs. Mary Hayward whose coming to Stearns county dated back to 1856, when with her husband, the late Josiah E. Hayward, she came from Maine to make a home in the township of Brockway, afterwards removing to this city, died Sunday at the Grand Central Hotel, hier home for more than half a cen- tury, aged 82 years.
September 19 .- Harvey Grimmer, of St. Cloud, has been placed in nomination by the state-wide primary vote as the Demo- cratic candidate for secretary of state.
The Stearns county fair of 1912 held at Sauk Centre this week was a pronounced success. An interesting address on agri- culture was given by James J. Hill.
September 26 .- Fred W. Carpenter, for- merly of Sauk Centre, at present American minister to Morrocco has been transferred to be minister to Siam.
The annual convention of the Stearns
County Bible Association was held at Paynesville, Saturday and Sunday last.
October 3 .- Judge L. W. Collins, for many years a resident of St. Cloud, and who has held a number of important of- fices, legislative and judicial, in the county and state, following an honorable service in the army, died Friday at his home in Minneapolis, aged 74 years.
A $40,000 school building at Paynesville has been completed to replace the one burned 18 months ago.
October 10 .- Hubert Rieland, a well- known resident of New Munich, who came to Stearns county in 1854, taking a home- stead near the present village, died Sun. day, aged 77 years.
October 17 .- Henry Killian, one of Stearns county's earliest pioneers, died Thursday on the farm he obtained by pre- emption in 1854 and on which he had lived continuously for 58 years, a little more than two miles below the city, in the 93d year of his age.
November 21 .- Henry Chester Waite died at his home in this city Friday, aged 82 years. Coming to St. Cloud in 1855 he was its first attorney and in 1857 was a member of the constitutional convention. He served one term in the house and two terms in the senate, and for four years was register of the United States land of- fice at St. Cloud. His business interests in this vicinity were large.
December 12 .- The numbering machine in the register of deeds office reached its limits Saturday with the number 99,999. This machine has been in use about 25 years, and a new and larger one has been installed.
December 20 .- The White Way was opened last evening with a great celebra- tion. The button was pressed at eight o'clock, followed instantly by a flood of light on St. Germain street from the inter- section with Fifth avenue to Ninth avenue and on Fifth avenue to Second street south. There are eight standards to each block, four on either side of the street, each standard having five lights. The turning on of the lights was followed by a grand parade, with three bands, a number of floats, citizens (young and old) dressed in character, and all manner of "stunts." The frolic was kept up until after midnight, the big crowd being orderly as well as happy.
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1913.
January 2 .- The granite manufacturers of St. Cloud held their annual banquet Fri- day evening at the Commercial Club rooms, W. J. Holes presiding as toastmaster, a number of business men being present as guests. Brief speeches were made by Mayor Seberger, Senator Sullivan, E. F. Moore; William Stratton, president of the Commercial Club; A. Fingling, associate general freight agent of the Northern Pa- cific Railroad; George J. Ryan, general in- dustrial agent of the Great Northern; A. J. Dickinson, associate passenger agent of the Great Northern; W. J. Lieb, assistant general freight agent of the Milwaukee road. and A. G. Whitney, of the Public Service Company; the last speaker being W. B. Wyat, of Sac City, Iowa, the largest monumental dealer in Iowa, who said that after handling St. Cloud granite for over 20 years he knew there was nothing better for quality and durability or that would take a better polish than the stone from the quarries here.
Married at Minneapolis, Mrs. Sarah Jane Osley, of that city, aged 74, to Benjamin Grinols, of Fair Haven, Stearns county, aged 79 years-the happy ending of half a century's romance.
The marriage of Lucile Coates, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Coates, of this city, to William Charles Hammerel took place New Year's Eve, at the home of the bride's parents, the Rev. T. C. Cullen, of Minneap- olis, performing the ceremony.
January 9 .- Ben Kost, who came to St. Cloud with his parents 52 years ago and had made St. Cloud his home ever since, died Wednesday. He was for several years a member of the board of county commis- sioners and at the time of his death was a member of the St. Cloud Board of Edu- cation and its treasurer.
January 16 .- Chas. S. Reed, of Walla Walla, Wash., has been selected by the board of control as superintendent of the Minnesota State Reformatory to succeed F. L. Randall, resigned.
January 30 .- The Northern Minnesota Editorial Association, which started five years ago with a membership of less than a dozen, now has 84 names on its list. The annual meeting in this city was well at- tended and was successful from every point
of view. The business sessions were held in the Commercial Club rooms, where a banquet was given Friday evening by the local press, at which C. F. Macdonald acted as toastmaster, a number of the busi- ness men of the city being guests. E. C. Kiley, of Grand Rapids, was elected presi- dent; C. F. Scheers, Akely, vice-president; A. G. Rutledge, Bemidji, secretary-treas- urer.
Joseph B. Sartell came to Stearns county in 1854, locating in the town of Le Sauk and building a saw mill for a man named Harry Sawyer; the following year taking a homestead on Winnebago Prairie, which is now a part of the Gillespie stock farm, formerly owned by Judge D. B. Searle; returning after various changes in 1870 to the original home, where he died yester- day, aged 87 years. The village of Sartell was named for him.
February 6 .- Frederick F. Gerard, who was an interpreter with the Indian scouts who accompanied Generals Custer and Reno into the Valley of the Little Big Horn and personally had communication with General Custer several times on the day of the latter's death, June 26, 1876, died January 30, at the age of 83 years, in St. Joseph's Home, this city.
The Boosters' Club is the name of an organization on the East-side, with a mem- bership of 101. The officers are: J. M. McGinty, president; George Shetterly, secretary; C. A. Swenson, treasurer.
February 13 .- After a protracted con- test Joseph H. Coates was decided by the house of representatives to be entitled to the seat from this district; his reported majority over Chas. A. Gilman being one vote.
March 6 .- The slogan adopted by the Commercial Club for the city of St. Cloud is the "Busy, Gritty Granite City." A prize of $25 had been offered by Martin Molitor, and nearly 700 slogans were submitted to the committee, the successful contestant being Carl Thiele.
March 18 .- The seventeenth annual con- vention of the Northern Minnesota Educa- tional Association met in this city on the 13th inst., for a three days' session. The principal address was by Miss Alice G. Mott, of the State University, on "Half Truths in Educational Propaganda." A valuable paper was by W. F. Webster,
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principal of the East-side High school, Minneapolis, whose central thought was that civic righteousness was most surely to be learned in the schools. The officers elected were: C. H. Barnes, St. Cloud, president; Minerva Hixson, Cambridge, vice-president; I. T. Johnsrud, St. Cloud, secretary and treasurer.
Judge M. D. Taylor, of this city, has been appointed by Governor Eberhart one of the two commissioners of the supreme court, an office newly created by the legis- lature. John A. Roeser, of St. Cloud, was appointed to succeed Judge Taylor on the bench of the Seventh district.
March 20 .- Philip Loesch, who had lived continuously for 57 years on a farm near Pearl lake, in the town of Maine Prairie, died yesterday, aged 80 years.
March 25 .- The death of Mrs. John Perry who came with her husband to Minnesota 55 years ago, making their home in the town of Brockway, occurred on the 21st inst., at the age of 73 years.
April 1 .- W. R. James, who settled in Sauk Centre in 1864, taking a farm a por- tion of which is included within the corpo- rate limits of the city, died Thursday of last week at Britton, S. D., the remains being brought to Sauk Centre for burial.
April 3 .- The Commercial Club had its first annual banquet last evening, follow- ing the successful campaign for an increase of membership.
Mrs. Catherine Haarman located at St. Joseph 52 years ago and for 20 years con- ducted a small store there, making her home for some time past with her chil- dren. Her death, in the 90th year of her age, occurred last night at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Edward Stephens, in this city.
April 8 .- Joseph A. Long, the head of five generations-eight children, 48 grand children, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, died this morning in this city at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank Boos, at the age of 83 years. His home was first on a farm in the town of St. Wendel, and since 1893 in this city.
The subscriptions in this city for the relief of the sufferers by the terrible floods in Ohio have passed the $1,000 mark, with more coming in.
April 22 .- Benjamin H. Winslow, one of Maine Prairie's early settlers, having made
his home in that town continuously since 1859 locating the previous year at Fair Haven, died yesterday, aged 79 years.
Frank L. Randall, former superintendent of the Minnesota State Reformatory at St. Cloud, has been appointed chairman of the Massachusett's State Prison Com- mission.
April 29 .- W. L. Parsons, of Fergus Falls, has been appointed by Governor Eberhardt the third judge of the Seventh Judicial District, under the provisions of a bill passed by the last legislature.
May 1 .- The annual meeting of the Bankers' Association of the Sixth District group held at Brainerd Tuesday was well attended and closed with the usual ban- quet. The officers elected for the ensuing year were: J. K. Martin, Little Falls, president; George Hanscom, St. Cloud, vice-president; Guy Hastings, Wadena, secretary and treasurer.
Mrs. Henry F. Meyer, wife of former County Commissioner Meyer, died yester- day at her home in Albany, where she had resided since 1862.
May 13 .- Clark Eldred, of St. Cloud, and M. Loso, of St. Joe, have been appointed game wardens for this part of the state.
May 27 .- Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Dam, of this city, celebrated on the 25th the golden anniversary of their wedding.
May 29 .- Joseph. S. Seal has been ap- pointed postmaster at Melrose, Frank Weisser having been a contestant for the place with strong local backing. Mr. Seal is a brother-in-law of Congressman Lindberg. W. P. Lemmer has received the appointment of postmaster at Belgrade.
The paper makers at the Watab mill are out on a strike.
June 11 .- The marriage of Dorothy Mit- chell, of this city, to Arthur Brookes And- erson, of Minneapolis, was solemnized at the Presbyterian church last evening, the Rev. E. V. Campbell, D. D., officiating.
June 12 .- The saloon license at Melrose has been increased from $500 to $1,000, and the number of saloons reduced to six. There are eleven at present.
June 17 .- The thirty-first convention of the Minnesota State Federation of Labor is holding its sessions in this city with one of the largest attendances in the history . of the federation. The meetings are in the new Catholic Club's gymnasium, which
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
has been handsomely decorated for the occasion. A big parade was a feature of the evening of the first day, followed by a dance at Carter Hall. The report given by President E. G. Hall was very full and complete, as was also the report of W. E. McEwen, the secretary-treasurer of the federation. Both these officers were re- elected and Paul Scherer, of St. Cloud, was elected one of the two vice-presidents from the Sixth District.
Another state organization holding its annual meeting in this city was the Min- nesota Federation of Typographical Un- ions. Matters of interest to the trade were considered. Gus T. Winburg, of Minne- apolis, was elected president, and George S. Clark, of St. Cloud a member of the ex- ecutive board. A banquet was given at the Fifth Avenue Hotel by the St. Cloud Typographical Union.
Jacob F. Lemm, a civil war veteran, aged 75 years, died Sunday at Luxemburg, which had been his home since 1859. He was at one time a deputy sheriff of Stearns county.
June 19 .- Dr. P. P. Colgrove, for a num- ber of years a member of the faculty of the St. Cloud Normal school, has been elected superintendent of the public schools at Virginia, at a salary of $3,600 a year.
Dr. and Mrs. David L. Kiehle celebrated their golden wedding on the 16th inst., at Portland Oregon, their present home. Dr. Kiehle was for a number of years presi- dent of the St. Cloud Normal school.
July 10 .- Horace P. Bennett, St. Cloud's oldest citizen died last evening at his home in this city, after a long illness, at the advanced age of 94 years, 3 months and 28 days. Mr. Bennett, better known as "Deacon" Bennett, has been a resident of Stearns county since 1856, first making his home at Maine Prairie and six years afterwards coming to this city, where he resided continuously until his death.
Mrs. Katherine Kloepper May, wife of Gerhard May, editor of Der Nordstern, died at her home in this city today, aged 53 years. Her home had been in St. Cloud for the past 48 years.
July 22 .- The Sauk Centre Herald has been sold by A. M. Welles to Asa Wallace, deputy state fire marshal.
July 24 .- The members of the Minnesota
Retail Monument Dealers' Association, in session in this city, were entertained last evening with a lunch and social gathering at the Commercial Club rooms by the local branch of the Northwestern Granite Manu- facturers' Association. About 100 were present.
Mrs. John Ahles, of Rockville, died yesterday, aged 69 years, having been a resident of Stearns county for 56 years.
August 5 .- Mrs. Thomas Tollington, who made her home at Clearwater in 1856, died in that village last evening, aged 74 years.
August 14 .- Henry Poeppy, living on a farm near Luxemburg, while at work this morning in a field suddenly dropped dead. He had lived on this farm for over 50 years.
August 21 .- A Municipal League, with the mayors of 50 cities present, was organ- ized yesterday at Minneapolis. James E. Jenks, city attorney of St. Cloud, was elected president and Mayor Seberger was one of the speakers.
September 4 .- The exhibit of the work done in the rural schools of Stearns county took second place in the counties of the state at the state fair, being surpassed only by Dodge county. This is the first time an exhibit has been sent to the state fair from this county.
Smith & White with short horns, P. J. Fosse with Duroc Jerseys and Hodgson Bros. with Chester Whites made fine show- ings at the state fair and took many prizes, the list of the first-named being 27, and of the other two 15 and 11 respectively.
September 16 .- A total of 130 automo- biles and a seven-coach train went from St. Cloud yesterday to the county fair at Sauk Centre. The fair, which covered three days, was a great success. James J. Hill today addressed an attendance es- timated at 5,000.
September 18 .- Potatoes are coming in quite freely and are bought for shipment, the price today being 57 cents.
September 23 .- The Benton Tri-County Fair, the grounds being located east of the street car line between this city and Sauk Rapids, opened Thursday, continuing for three days. The exhibits were good and the attendance satisfactory consider- ing the bad weather, a severe windstorm blowing down some of the tents in which displays had been arranged. Governor
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Eberhardt spoke Friday. As this was the first fair held by the association the re- sults were very creditable to the man- agement.
September 25 .- At the annual meeting of the State Federation of Women's Clubs held at Brainerd yesterday, Mrs. C. L. At- wood, of this city, was elected president and Mrs. A. G. Whitney corresponding sec- retary.
September 30 .- The largest crowd ever in St. Cloud was present Sunday on the occasion of the thirty-fourth annual con- vention of the German Catholic Aid So- ciety of Minnesota and the seventeenth general convention of the Federation of German Catholic Societies of Minnesota. The parade that evening was 14 blocks in length and marched in seven divisions with 15 bands. The business sessions were held on Monday and Tuesday and the day following automobiles took the delegates to St. Joseph's Academy and St. John's University. Paul Ahles, of St. Cloud, was re-elected president of the Staats Ver- bandes.
The fifth annual street fair held at Kim- ball was very creditable to that village and to the farming community in that part of the county. The display of fruit and vegetables was especially good, and there was a fine program of sports. St. Cloud people to the number of 200 went in auto- mobiles.
The marriage of Miss Effie Ruth Kin- ney, of Minneapolis, to Mr. Rolland C. Buckley, of St. Cloud, took place Thurs- day at the home of the bride's parents.
October 2 .- Ole O. Minde, an old resi- dent of this county, died this morning at his home in Melrose, aged 75 years.
October 16 .- William T. Clark, who had been a resident of St. Cloud since 1857 and one of its leading business men, died at his home this morning, aged 83 years.
Mrs. Elizabeth Kloepper, a resident of St. Cloud for 50 years, died at her home in this city this morning, aged 87 years.
Word has been received of the death of Mrs. E. O. Carver (formerly Mrs. L. T. Troutman, for many years a resident of this city), October 10 at Auburndale, Fla.
October 21 .- John P. Rau, county audi- tor of Stearns county, died suddenly Sun- day morning as he was seated in his auto- mobile preparatory to a trip into the coun-
try. His death was due to cerebral hem- orrhages. He was 44 years of age and was serving his third term as auditor at the time of his death.
Thomas Barrett, for more than 40 years a resident of this county, died yesterday at the farm of his son, John Barrett, near St. Wendel, aged 73 years.
October 23 .- Nicholas Thomey, of Rock- ville, a member of the board of county com- missioners, has been appointed county aud- itor to succeed the late John P. Rau.
October 28 .- The petition for the re- moval of the county seat from St. Cloud to Albany, bearing 4,715 signatures, has been filed with the county auditor.
October 30 .- Mrs. Celia C. Bell, who came to St. Cloud with her parents in 1855, afterwards being married to James F. Bell, a merchant of this city, died yes- terday at her home at Fergus Falls, aged 68 years.
November 1 .- The Sixth avenue white way was turned on Saturday evening.
November 4 .- Andrew Fritz, a resident of St. Cloud since 1856, died Monday, aged 77 years. During the war he served in Company D, First Minnesota Mounted Rangers.
November 6 .- Joseph Gasperlin, for 44 years a resident of the town of Krain and until six years ago the town clerk, died October 25, aged 84 years.
November 20. - The death of Capt. Thomas Van Etten, one of the pioneer resi- dents of Sauk Rapids and a veteran of the Civil war, died today at his home in that village, aged 77 years. He had filled the offices of auditor and attorney of Ben- ton county.
The Albany county seat removal peti- tion has been rejected by the board of county commissioners for lack of sufficient signatures.
November 25 .- Jacob Anton Loehrer, who came to this county immediately after the war, in which he had served as a member of a Missouri regiment, taking a farm near this city, died yesterday, aged 84 years.
November 27 .- The third annual exhibit of the Central Minnesota Poultry Associa- tion held in this city this week has been very successful. The judge of the poultry, Ralph Whitney, of Rochester, one of the most expert poultry men in the country,
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
says it is one of the finest collections of poultry he has seen in the state and was agreeably surprised both as to the great number and high quality of the birds shown.
Henry Kiffmeyer, for nearly half a cen- tury a resident of St. Augusta, died last evening, aged 82 years.
December 2 .- The number of deer killed in Minnesota this season is said by the executive agent of the state game com- mission to have been 7,500, notwithstand- ing the absence of snow, this number be- ing in excess of that for several years.
December 4 .- Mrs. Herbert Rieland, of New Munich, for 61 years a resident of this county, died last evening at her home in that town, aged 69 years.
December 11 .- The total number of cars of potatoes shipped out of Stearns county during the year 1913 was 324, for which the farmers received $87,480, the average price paid by the buyers being 45 cents per bushel. The highest yield was in the district between Avon and Holdingford, where the average was 225 to 250 bushels per acre.
The new church lately erected by the Paynesville parish of the German Evangeli- cal Association was dedicated this week. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Bishop S. C. Breyfogel, who was assisted by the Rev. A. H. Utzinger, presiding elder of the district, and the Rev. C. F. Kackel, pastor of the local church, and others of the clergy. At the Sunday services $4,600 was received, which nearly cleared the parish of the debt incurred in the build- ing of the new church, the total cost of which was about $13,000.
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