USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 80
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Gotthard Harren, one of the oldest and best-known teachers in the county, having been for 25 years principal of the school at Freeport, died last evening at St. Ra- phael's hospital, of pneumonia, aged 54 years.
December 4 .- By a majority of 209 out of 3,805 votes cast yesterday the Lake George site for the new high school build- ing won over the Fifth avenue site, the present location.
December 7 .- Mrs. Gertrude T. Long, mother of John Long, register of deeds, died in this city Saturday, aged 84 years. With her husband, who died in 1883, she located in the town of St. Martin, 45 years ago.
December 8 .- J. D. Kowalkowski, chair- man of the board of county commissioners, and C. F. Macdonald, editor of the St. Cloud Times, have announced themselves as candidates for the St. Cloud post office to succeed C. D. Grinols at the expiration of his term.
December 9 .- John N. Gilley, a veteran of Company G, New York Cavalry, who lo- cated on a farm near Cold Spring in 1867, afterwards removing to the village where he was postmaster during President Har-
rison's administration, died Monday, aged 76 years.
December 12 .- William Grimmer, of Sauk Rapids, a leading logging contractor, whose home had been at that place since 1868, died yesterday in the eighty-second year of his age.
December 17. - The Great Northern Flour Mills, the name by which the reor- ganized George Tileston mills are now known, started up Tuesday, after a num- ber of improvements had been made and the capacity of the mill increased from 1,000 to 1,200 barrels of flour per day.
The people of St. Cloud are sending a car load of flour made at the City Mills, to the Belgian sufferers.
The date for the annual health and hygiene ball, to be given under the direc- tion of the city's Health and Hygiene Com- mittee, has been fixed for February 5.
December 22 .- Mrs. Mary Hansen, wife of Judge Hubert Hansen, born at St. Joe January 9, 1865, died today at her home in this city, of Bright's disease, after a lingering illness.
December 23 .- Holdingford is to be elec- tric lighted, a plant for that purpose being constructed by Val. Herman, who has a 20-year franchise.
December 24 .- At a meeting of the Stearns County Bar Association held yes- terday R. B. Brower was elected president to succeed Theodore Bruener, resigned, James E. Jenks, secretary, to succeed John A. Roeser resigned. It was voted to extend an invitation to the State Bar As- sociation to hold its meeting in this city next August, the Commercial club agree- ing to co-operate.
December 26 .- Hans J. Anderson, for a number of years a resident of St. Cloud and builder of the Anderson saw mills located on the east side of the Mississippi river, died suddenly on the street at Hud- son, Wis., of heart disease. He was prin- cipal owner of the Anderson Lumber Com- pany at South Stillwater, and was 60 years of age.
December 28 .- The Christmas rush at the St. Cloud post office this year far ex- ceeded that of any previous year. While the number of packages received is not known, Postmaster Ginols says it was fully three-fold that ever before handled. More
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packages were received Saturday and Sun- day than on any two days during the holi- day season.
The funeral of the Rev. Frank Robert Plantekow, whose death occurred at Spo- kane, Wash., December 17, was held at . the German Evangelical church, Paynes- ville, on Christmas day. The deceased was a son of Michael Plantekow, a pioneer of Western Stearns, and he had been in the ministry for 37 years. For eight years prior to the spring of 1914 he had been presiding elder in Minnesota, having been located at St. Paul, Winona and Paynes- ville, but at the beginning of the present year he was transferred by the bishops of his church to the diocese of Spokane.
December 29 .- There are 58 officers and other employees at the Minnesota State reformatory, not including the superinten- dent and principal keeper.
The Northwestern Granite Manufactur- ers' Association holds its annual banquet at the Commercial club rooms this even- ing, the supper being served by the Ladies' Aid Society of the Presbyterian church.
December 31 .- St. Cloud improvements for the year 1914 total $986,875.
The year has closed with just sufficient snow having fallen to cover the ground and make a "White Christmas," but not enough for a single day's sleighing.
Mrs. Marshall E. Jones died this morn- ing at her home in this city of a long- standing throat trouble.
James F. Stevenson died at his home in St. Cloud January 17, 1915, at the age of 91 years. He had been a resident of the city for 45 years, having come here from Mckeesport, Pa., in 1869, built the foundry now known as the Granite City Iron Works, engaged in the hardware business and brought to St. Cloud the first coal stove ever used in the city.
Joseph Eich, who came to Stearns coun- ty in 1855, taking a homestead by pre-emp- tion in the town of St. Martin where he lived for nearly 56 years, died January 18 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John Lahr, in this city, aged 85 years. His wife died July 15, 1912, and Mr. Eich soon after- wards made St. Cloud his home.
CHAPTER XLVII.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES.
Early Precincts-Eleven Original Townships-Changes in Names and Bounda- ries-Thirty-seven Townships at Present-Early Settlement and Or- ganization-Pioneer Activities-Foundation and Growth of the Villages -Business Directories-Officers.
When Stearns county was organized in 1855 it was divided into three pre- cincts, so-called, intended mainly to serve election purposes. The number of these was increased and their boundaries were changed from time to time as the necessities and convenience of the increasing population of the county re- quired. The boundaries, election places, election officials and early officers of these precincts will be found in the chapter entitled County Government, which appears in this work.
At the meeting of the board of county commissioners May 19, 1858, in ac- cordance with a law passed by the legislature at its last preceding session, the county was divided into eleven township, as follows: St. Cloud-All of town- ship 124, range 28, the north half of township 123, ranges 27 and 28, and the south half of township 125, range 28. St. Joseph-All of township 124, range 29, the south half of township 125, range 29, the southeast quarter of township 125, range 30, and the east half of township 124, range 30. Winnebago-All
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
of township 126, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31, and the north half of township 125, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31. Clearwater-South half of township 123, ranges 27 and 28, and all of township 122 northwest of Clearwater river in ranges 27 and 28. Marysville-All of townships 122 and 123, range 29, and all of town- ship 121 in said range north of Clearwater river. St. Domingo-townships 122 and 123, north of Clearwater river, range 31, and west half of townships 122 and 123 north of said river, range 30. Sauk Centre-townships 125 and 126, ranges 34 and 35. Lake Henry-townships 123 and 124, ranges 34 and 35. Two Islands-townships 125 and 126, ranges 32 and 33. Richmond-townships 123 and 124, ranges 32 and 33; also, township 122, ranges aforesaid north of the county line. Hanover-township 124 and the south half of township 125, range 31, and the southwest quarter of township 125 and the west half of town- ship 124, range 30.
These eleven original townships were from time to time divided and sub- divided, as will appear from the action of the board of supervisors and com- missioners hereafter reported, until their number was finally increased to thirty- seven, and six of the eleven names then adopted, or more than one-half, were discarded, and to a majority of the present inhabitants of the townships are not even a memory. May 27 was fixed as the day for holding elections in the different towns, thus giving but one week's notice. Polling places were desig- nated as follows: St. Cloud house of Anton Edelbrock; St. Joseph, at Peter Loso's; Winnebago, at Anson Northrop's; Clearwater, at S. A. Clifford's; Marysville, at Mr. Farwell's; St. Domingo, at John L. Young's; Richmond, at Mr. Middendorf's; Sauk Centre, at S. M. Bruce's; Lake Henry, no place named ; Hanover, attached to St. Domingo until organized.
At the first meeting of the new board of supervisors, held August 3, 1858, such townships as were not organized were annexed to those which had been organized and the boundaries of certain of the organized townships were changed. The south half of government township 123, ranges 27 and 28, and all of township 122 in ranges 27 and 28 lying north of Clearwater river were made a part of the township of St. Cloud. The township of Wakefield was established with the following boundaries: Half of township 125, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31; also township 126, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31, and all of township 127, ranges 29, 30 and 31, lying south of the northern boundary of Stearns county. The township of Maine Prairie was to include townships 122 and 123, range 29. The township of Springfield was to be composed of townships 122 and 123, range 30. The township of Richmond embraced townships 122, 123 and 124 and the south half of township 125, range 31, and the west half of township 124 and the southwest quarter of township 125, range 30. The town- ship of Verdale was made up of township 122, 123 and 124, ranges 32, 33, 34 and 35. The township of Sauk Centre included townships 125 and 126, all of fractional town 127 south of the northern boundary of Stearns county in ranges 32, 33, 34 and 35. The name of the township of Marysville was changed to Maine Prairie, and that of Domingo to Springfield. It was further ordered that all subdivisions of the county into townships which were inconsistent with the townships created by this board should be annulled. At a meeting held August 21, all of township 122, range 28, lying north of Clearwater river, was
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IIISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
taken from the township of St. Cloud and annexed to the township of Maine Prairie. The name of the township of Springfield was changed to Wakefield September 14, and November 2 the name of the township of Richmond was changed to Richardson and that of Winnebago to Calais, but the latter change was reconsidered and the name of Brockway chosen. At the session January 3, 1859, the name Richardson was changed to Munson and the township of Corning was established with the following-described boundaries: Commenc- ing at the mouth of the Clearwater river, following up the Mississippi river to the section line between section 17 and 20, township 123, range 27; thence west on side line to the township line of said township; thence south on said town- ship line to the Clearwater river; thence down said stream to the place of be- ginning. A resolution organizing the township of St. Augusta was adopted at this session but was afterwards annulled. A new township called Neenah, com- posed of township 123, range 28, was established February 8, 1859, the meet- ing of the voters for organization to be held March 1st at L. B. Johnson's house. All of township 122, range 27, north of Clearwater river, not included in the township of Maine Prairie was annexed to the township of Lynden. On the petition of the inhabitants of township 122, range 28, all that part of township 121, same range, and that part of township 121, range 29, that was in Stearns county, the territory thus described was erected into the township of Fair Haven, a meeting for organization to be held at the Fair Haven schoolhouse on the first Tuesday in April. A new township called Marion, comprising town- ship 124, ranges 32 and 33, was erected, the election for organization to be held at the house of William Bosworth the first Tuesday in April. New townships having been organized and changes in boundaries made from time to time, the supervisors at their meeting May 4, 1859, adopted a resolution defining the boundaries of the different townships as follows :
Marion-township 124, ranges 32 and 33. Fair Haven-township 122, range 28, and all that part of township 121 in same range being in Stearns county, and all that part of township 121, range 29, being in Stearns county. Berlin-township 123, range 28. Lynden-Commencing at the mouth of Clear- water river, following up the Mississippi river to the section line between sec- tions 17 and 20 in township 123, range 27; thence west on said section line to township, township line of said township; thence south on said township line to the Clearwater river; thence down said stream to the place of beginning. Wakefield-township 122, range 30. Verdale-townships 122 and 123, ranges 32, 33, 34 and 35, also township 124, ranges 34 and 35. Sauk Centre-town- ships 125 and 126 and all of fractional township 127 south of the northern boundary of Stearns county in ranges 32, 33, 34 and 35. Munson-townships 122, 123 and 124, and south half of township 125, range 31, and the west half of township 124, and southwest quarter of township 125, range 30. St. Joseph -township 124, range 29, and south half of township 125, range 29, and east half of township 124, range 30, and southeast quarter of township 125, range 30. Brockway-North one-half of township 125, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31; also township 126, ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31, and all of township 127, ranges 29, 30 and 31 lying south of the northern boundary of Stearns county. Maine Prairie -townships 122 and 123, range 29. St. Cloud-township 124, range 28, ex-
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cepting the southeast quarter of said township, and south half of township 125, range 28. St. Augustine-Commencing at southeast corner of section 18 in township 123, range 28, one line running north to Mississippi river, the other line running east to Mississippi river, including the fraction of township embraced between those lines and the Mississippi river; also the southeast quarter of township 124, range 28; "said boundaries claimed to be St. Au- gusta."
At a meeting of the supervisors held September 15, 1869, township 125, range 29 was attached to the township of Maine Prairie. It was further ordered that sections 17, 18, 8, 9 and 6 of township 123, range 27, be attached to the township of Lynden, and that sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 of township 124, range 28, be attached to the township of St. Cloud.
At the first meeting of the new board of county commissioners held June 5, 1861, the townships of Maine Prairie and Rockville were erected, com- posed of the following described territory: Maine Prairie, township 122, range 29, and fractional township 129, range 29, a town meeting for the pur- pose of organization to be held June 25 at the house of Daniel Spaulding. Rockville, township 123, range 29, the meeting for the organization to be held June 25 at Michael Hanson's house. Three more new townships were created at the meeting of the commissioners held September 7, with the fol- lowing described territory: Oak, township 125, ranges 32 and 33, a meeting for organization to be held at Almon Sutton's house October 1; Tecumseh, fractional township 125, range 28, the organization meeting to be held at Henry Sawyer's house October 1; Berlin, a part of township 123, range 27, commencing at a point on the Mississippi river where the line between sections 7 and 20 running easterly would intersect the main channel of said river; thence west to township line between ranges 27 and 28; thence north to the main channel of said river ; thence down said channel to the place of beginning in township 122, range 28, subject to a vote of the people affected to be taken at the general election in November. The name of the town of Marion, on pe- tition of its inhabitants, was changed March 1 to Kennebeck. A radical change of township names was made at the meeting of the board of the county commissioners January 6, 1863, the name of the township of Berlin being changed to St. Augusta, "in accordance with instructions from the state auditor," that of Marion to St. Martin, and Tecumseh to Le Sauk, these being the names by which these townships have ever since been known, although with subsequent changes of boundaries. The county auditor was further instructed to change Frenchville to Le Sauk and the name of Tecumseh to Frenchville.
Upon petition of residents of the north half of township 123, ranges 32 and 33, that territory was cut off from the town of Verdale and attached to the town of St. Martin, which was then declared to comprise townships 124, ranges 33 and 32 and the north half of township 123, ranges 33 and 32.
The township of Avon was erected January 4, 1866, by taking such parts of congressional township 125, range 30, as were in the townships of St. Jo- seph, Brockway and Munson and consolidating them into a single organization with the above name. Upon petition of a majority of the legal voters of con-
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
gressional township 125, range 30, it was detached from the townships of Munson and Brockway and attached to the township of Avon, by order of the board of county commissioners at a meeting held May 16, 1866. The fol- lowing day congressional townships 125, ranges 34 and 35, were taken from the township of Sauk Centre and the new township of Getty was erected, a meeting for organization to be held April 3 at Jacob Hurley's house.
A petition asking that congressional township 125, range 33, be taken from the township of Oak and made into a new township to be called Grove was granted January 2, 1867, the first town meeting to be held January 21 at Heinrich Meyer's house. At the same meeting congressional township 124, range 35, which was included in the township of Verdale, was erected into a new township called North Fork, a meeting for organization to be held Janu- ary 21 at Nels Olsen's house. A third new township was erected by taking congressional township 126, range 33, from the township of Sauk Centre and making of it the township of Melrose, a town meeting to be held January 21, at August Lindberg's house. Eden Lake was the fourth new township erected at this meeting of the board, which was done by taking from the township of Munson congressional township 122, range 31, the first township meeting being appointed for January 23 at William Marywandt's house. At the meet- ing of the board of county commissioners held March 13, 1867, sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29 and 30 and the west half of sections 4, 9, 15 and 21, town- ship 122, range 28, were set off from the township of Fair Haven and included in the township of Maine Prairie. At the same meeting congressional town- ship 125, range 35, was taken from the township of Getty and made into a new town called Raymond, the meeting for organization to be held March 30 at Liberty B. Raymond's house. A petition having been received asking that sections 1 to 12 inclusive in congressional township 122, range 31, be taken from the township of Eden Lake and attached to the township of Munson, it was directed that the matter be submitted to the voters of the township of Eden Lake at the next annual town meeting. When the county board met May 8 it granted a petition of the inhabitants of Maine Prairie asking that sections 7, 8, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and the south half of sections 5 and 6 of con- gressional township 122, range 28, be taken from the township of Fair Haven and attached to the township of Maine Prairie, although it would appear that a part of this territory was included in the transfer made at the meet- ing in March. Three more new townships were added to the list September 3. Congressional township 122, range 30, was taken from the township of Wakefield to make the township of Luxemburg, a meeting for organization to be held September 23, at Nicholas Post's house; congressional township 123, range 32, was taken from the township of Verdale to become the township of Zion, the first meeting of the voters to be held September 21, at the school- house in district No. 45; and congressional township 122, range 32, was like- wise taken from the township of Verdale to become the township of Paynes- ville, the first town meeting to be held September 23, at the house of John Phipps.
Upon petition the south one-third of congressional township 127, range 33, was by the county board January 8, 1868, taken from the township of
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
Sauk Centre and annexed to the township of Melrose. At the same meeting congressional township 125, range 29, was taken from the townships of St. Joseph and Brockway and erected into a new township called Hancock, with a meeting for organization to be held March 31 at the house of Jacob Eich, Jr. This is the only reference to the name of Hancock, this newly-organized township appearing hereafter as St. Wendel. There is no record as to when or why the change was made, but probably it was directed by the state aud- itor, from the fact that the name of the famous Union commander had been previously appropriated by some organized township in the state. Congres- sional townships 125 and 126, range 31, and the south one-third of township 127, range 31, being a part of the townships of Avon and Brockway, were taken to form another new township called Albany, the first town meeting to be held March 31 in the schoolhouse in district No. 59. The township of Crow Lake was erected June 9, 1868, by making its boundaries the same as the boundaries of congressional township 123, range 35, with a meeting for organi- zation to be held June 27 at C. H. Johnson's house. The citizens of the south half of township 123, ranges 33 and 34, and township 124, range 34, having neglected to organize and elect their town officers for the year 1868, the board of county commissioners at this meeting ordered that the west half of town- ship 123, range 34, be annexed to the township of Crow Lake; that the west half of township 124, range 34, be annexed to the township of North Fork ; and that the east half of township 123, range 34, and the south half of town- ship 123, range 33, be annexed to the township of St. Martin, by which action the township of Verdale passed finally off the face of the county map.
Congressional township 123, range 33, and the east half of township 123, range 34, were taken from the township of St. Martin June 28, 1869, and made into the town of Lake Henry. The first town meeting was appointed to be held July 9, at the house of Xavier Popping. The following day the county board took from the townships of St. Martin and North Fork the north half of township 124, range 34, and attached it to the township of Getty. The new town of Ashley was erected June 9, 1870, by taking from the township of Sauk Centre congressional township 126, range 35, and frac- tional township 127, range 35, the first town meeting to be held June 25 at the house of A. M. Stiles. The next new township was Holding, erected Septem- ber 17, 1870, by taking township 126, range 30, and fractional township 127, range 30, from the township of Brockway. A meeting for organization was appointed for October 6, at Randolph Holding's house. Congressional town- ship 126, range 32, and the fractional township 127, range 32, were taken from the township of Oak March 29, 1871, to form the town of Millwood, the town meeting to be held April 17 at Heinrich Klason's house. At a meet- ing of the county board held June 13, 1871, congressional township 124, range 33, and the south-east quarter of township 124, range 34, were taken from the township of St. Martin and erected into the township of Spring Hill; the town meeting to be held July 1 at F. W. Lenz's house. The township of Krain followed, being made up of township 126, range 31, and the south tier of sections in township 127, range 31, taken by the county board March 20, 1872, from the township of Albany. The meeting for organization was ap-
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pointed for April 8 at Joseph Gasperlin's house. Another new town called Farming was erected January 8, 1873, comprising township 124, range 31, and the west half of township 124, range 30, taken from the township of Munson, with a meeting for organization to be held January 28 at Michael Bock's house. Almost four years elapsed before any further changes were ยท made in the boundaries of the township. When the county board met Jan- uary 3, 1877, it took congressional township 123, range 34, from the town- ships of Crow Lake and Lake Henry to form a new town which was called North Branch, the first town meeting to be held January 22 at Knut P. Knut- son's house. But being advised by the state auditor that there was already in the state a town of that name, the board of commissioners changed the name to Crow River. At a meeting of the county board held September 1 following, congressional township 124, range 34, was taken from Getty, Spring Hill and North Fork townships, and erected into the township of Lake George, the first town meeting to be held at Michael Collin's house, September 13. The last township to be erected was that of Collegeville, which was added to the list January 8, 1880, when congressional township 124, range 30, was taken from the townships of Farming, St. Joseph and Wakefield for this purpose. The first town meeting was appointed to be held Janu- ary 27, at Peter Eich's house. No additions have since been made to the number of townships or changes in the boundaries of any. The thirty-seven duly organized townships in the county are: Albany, Ashley, Avon, Brock- way, Collegeville, Crow Lake, Crow River, Eden Lake, Fair Haven, Farming, Getty, Grove, Holding, Krain, Lake George, Lake Henry, Le Sauk, Luxem- burg, Lynden, Maine Prairie, Melrose, Millwood, Munson, North Fork, Oak, Paynesville, Raymond, Rockville, St. Augusta, St. Cloud, St. Joseph, St. Martin, St. Wendel, Sauk Centre, Spring Hill, Wakefield and Zion. Of these, twenty-four contain one congressional township, six miles square, each ; seven, Ashley, Sauk Centre, Melrose, Millwood, Krain, Holding and Brockway, com- prising the northern tier of townships, were increased in size by the addition of a row of sections to their northern boundary; five, Brockway, Le Sauk, St. Cloud, St. Augusta and Lynden, have irregular contours by reason of bordering on the Mississippi river and the latter named township on the Clearwater river as well. Maine Prairie and Fair Haven are irregular by reason of territorial additions and subtractions.
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