USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume II > Part 92
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be just about as Mr. Russell had described it. They commenced at once to explore in different directions, as it was getting well along in the fall of the year, and shelter for both man and beast had to be built be- fore winter set in. At that time there were no roads aside from the old Territorial road from St. Paul to Fort Ripley, and wherever they went there were streams and sloughs to cross, thickets of hazel and prickly ash to pass through, and, in cross- ing the Mississippi, the wagon had to be taken apart and ferried in a canoe while the oxen swam across. The land west of the Mississippi at that time had not been surveyed but "squatters," as they were called, under rulings of the General Land Office, were permitted to settle on it. It was' necessary, in order to get 160 acres, for the settler to spread his improvements so he would be sure to get some on each of four forties or his neighbor might possi- bly be ahead of him in putting improve- ments on some forty which the settler wished for himself when he "proved up."
Under these conditions, they crossed the Mississippi and made their way up the Sauk Valley about eight miles. Night coming on, they camped at the foot of a bluff west of Sauk river on what is now section 27, township of St. Joseph. This was October 25, 1854. The next morning they found a clear spring of water near by and good timber for building purposes. They went to work at once and before Christmas Day had a good log house and stable. As soon as they were fairly lo- cated, they explored farther, and found choice locations for all, including those back east who were old enough to take claims. The first business these pioneers undertook after being comfortably housed, was to cut and haul tamarack timber for more buildings and rails to fence their fu- ture fields.
The winter of 1854-55 was not extremely severe and every working day was im- proved in preparation for the work of the coming spring. The part of the family left in Maine came, bringing more cattle, which they bought in St. Paul, arriving at the settlement on the fourth of May, 1855. They found the pioneers had their potatoes planted, garden made and were breaking up the prairie in preparation for the plant- ing of corn. In breaking the rich mellow
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loam of the valley, it made them wonder why the Almighty had not placed these rich prairies near the Atlantic seashore where the first Europeans could have had them to settle on.
The family was now transplanted from the rock-bound hills of New England to the fertile valley of the Sauk river. That spring other settlers came, among whom were the Wood family, consisting of Quincy, Pearly and David Wood and their wid- cwed mother; Benjamin Davenport and John Payne. Later came Henry Brinkman, Hiram and Wm. Taylor, Moses Morrison, Edwin McClure, the Stanger brothers, Mi- chael Undersander, Elisha Alden, John Dressler, John Hatzberger, Peter Michels, Fred Schilplin, Charles Yager, Mr. Obert and son, Miles, and soon others followed.
The crop of the season of 1855, al- though a "sod crop," was abundant. Ev- erything planted seemed to flourish. The natural meadows along the river, covered with a luxuriant growth of blue-joint, made the best of hay, and the settlers improved their time putting it up. In the spring of 1856 the surplus hay and corn was all needed by the influx of new settlers. Dur- ing that season the pioneers raised their first wheat. It all had to be threshed by flail, so it was December before the first two loads were ready to send by ox teams to Elk river, forty-five miles distant, to be made into flour. That season, just after the wheat was harvested, swarms of lo- custs alighted and deposited their eggs in the ground. Although they were too late to do much damage that year, everyone feared that those eggs deposited in the ground boded evil for the coming year.
The spring of 1857 was late-solid ice in Sauk river the first of May. The set- tlers sowed and planted as usual, but when the wheat and oats came up there were myriads of little locusts ready to devour them. Some corn was raised that year, but no wheat or oats. It was especially hard on those who had planted their first crops. After the "grasshopper year" had passed, everything moved on smoothly un- til 1861, the opening of the Civil War, and 1862, the year of the Indian outbreak.
The first call for volunteers, issued by President Lincoln in 1861, was responded to by Benjamin F. Staples and Wm. O. Taylor, who left their farming implements
in the field and went to Fort Snelling to help fill the ranks of the First Minnesota Infantry. Mr. Staples went through all the marches, skirmishes and battles of that historic regiment and lived to return to his farm. Mr. Taylor was instantly killed and Mr. Staples taken prisoner while the regiment was withstanding a charge of a Confederate brigade at Antietam.
Others of the settlement volunteered in other organizations later. Fred Schilplin and David Blackburn in the Third Regi- ment, John Dressler in the Seventh, Hen- ry Brinkman and Charles Yager in the First Regiment Heavy Artillery, Chas. A. Staples in the Fourth Regiment, Miles Obert and Jacob Staples in the Second Battery, Light Artillery, and John Stanger in an Ohio regiment. Thus it will be seen that the little settlement furnished its full quota of volunteers to perpetuate and pre- serve the national government.
The year 1862 opened auspiciously as far as the settlement was concerned. In August of that year the Sioux Indians at the Agency on the Minnesota river mas- sacred the settlers in that region and came as far northeast as the Sauk valley, but did not actually penetrate this settle- ment. They caused, however, a great deal of apprehension among the settlers. Al- though well armed, the men did not feel safe in leaving their families exposed in the liomes while they were working in the fields.
The first three children that were born in the little settlement were: Fred A. Staples, now of Billings, Montana; Julius C. Payne, now of Waite Park, and Eliza- beth Brinkman, now wife of Jacob Staples of the original settlement.
The first school in what is now District No. 10, was taught in the house of E. M. McClure by Stanley Russell of Sauk Rap- ids, during the winter of 1862-63. In the fall of 1863, a small frame schoolhouse was erected on section twenty-three which was used for a schoolhouse a number of years. In the fall of 1886 a new school- house was built on section twenty-six, which is used at the present time ..
As mentioned at the beginning of this sketch, when the first settlers came, the land was not surveyed and each settler took his claim to suit himself. The inci- dents that are herein noted happened on
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what were afterward sections 13, 23, 24, 25, 26, 34, and 36, township of St. Joseph, and section 3, township of Rockville. These sections all lie within the Sauk valley proper except sections 25, 35, and 36.
Sauk river enters the township at the southwest corner of section 34 and runs northeasterly through over four sections of land and passes out on the east side of section 13. Parallel to the general course of the river and back from either side runs a bluff or range of hills of glacial forma- tion. The soil between these hills in the valley proper is a rich sandy loam very productive, and that of the hills is of a clay formation. There is on section 24 an excellent granite quarry and another one one section 26 which has never been worked.
Of the first settlers who came in 1854-55 but few remain. Of the number that came in 1854 but two are living at the present time, James Staples and wife now resid- ing at Litchfield, Minn. Mrs. Staples kept house for the four men in the first house that was built.
Another one deserving of mention is Mary E. Payne, whose maiden name was Staples. She and her husband, John Payne, first settled on section 22 and, at the close of the Civil War, sold their claim there and bought the Taylor place in sec- tion 3, township of Rockville. Her home has been in this settlement continuously for fifty-seven years.
At the time of the early settlement of Stearns county the laws of the United States or the rulings of the General Land Office required that a settler in order to preempt a claim on government land should have improvements on four differ- ent forties if he wished to secure a full quarter section, therefore, a settler going on to unsurveyed land would naturally spread his improvements over consider- able land in order to be sure of his full quarter section. It was also a rule, whether it was law or not, that a settler should commence his improvements within six months from the time he staked out his claim. Claim-jumping and the work of "claim associations" were the cause of many and sometimes serious . disturb- ances. The following incident will serve to illustrate, what was a frequent occur- rence.
Sometime during the year 1855 a man by the name of Schaefer staked out a claim on section 22, town of St. Joseph. It was naturally a good-looking piece of land, but he failed to make any improve- ments, and it was a temptation to anyone seeking land to "jump" the claim. Early in the year 1856 a man from Kentucky by the name of James Lackey seeing this claim without improvements concluded he would take it himself; therefore, securing help, got out logs sufficient to erect a log house. As soon as the logs were on the ground he invited the neighbors to help him "raise" it, which was customary at that time, and the first day they got the body of the house up ready for the rafters. The next morning when they went to fin- ish the job they found the body of the house they had erected the day before ly- ing flat on the ground, every log chopped in two pieces. The men who threw the house down were waiting for Lackey and his helpers and probably, if the two sides had been even-handed, there would have been a fight; but inasmuch as Schaefer's crew outnumbered Lackey's two to one the older men of the latter considering "discretion the better part of valor," re- tired, and left Schaefer in possession of the field and the debris thereon.
Some days later some men from the St. Joseph settlement came over to the Sta- ples settlement to explain why they took such a summary way to drive Lackey off from Schaefer's claim. According to their story Schaefer had been sick and was un- able to make the improvements according to law. However, that may have been, Lackey did not attempt to build on that claim again.
Sometime after the foregoing events took place, Moses Morrison came into the settlement and bought Schaefer's claim, built a house and moved his family on to the place. When the land came into mar- ket the settlers had to "prove up" their claims and pay for their land. When Morrison went to "prove up" on his claim he found Lackey ready to contest it. Mor- rison finally won, but it cost him a good deal of time and trouble.
ST. JOSEPH VILLAGE.
The village of St. Joseph is located on the Great Northern railway, eight miles
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
west of St. Cloud, on part of sections 9 and 10 in the town of St. Joseph. It is the seat of St. Benedict's Academy and Col- lege, and of the parent house of the Order of St. Benedict.
Peter Loso came here in the summer of 1854 and located land where the present village is located. J. H. Linnemann came here in 1854 and in 1855 started the first store, which was kept in a log building, the front part being used as a store and the rear part as a dwelling. The small stock of goods was brought by team from St. Paul. There were several small log houses erected in the year 1854.
The church of St. Joseph has one of the finest cemeteries to be seen in the coun- ty. The village built the first town hall in the county and still uses the same building. The Schroeder Milling Com- pany owns and has operated a 100-barrel capacity flour mill since 1899, when the old Linnemann mill burned to the ground. The Linnemann mill was built in 1862 and was the only mill west of Arnold's mill in the county at that time. Farmers came to this mill with their grist as far as forty miles from the west. The postoffice was established in 1855 and J. H. Linnemann was the first postmaster. J. C. Klein is the present postmaster. The Great North- ern railway was built in 1872-73. The first station agent was F. A. Heepner, the pres- ent agent is E. F. Lux.
The village of St. Joseph was incorpo- rated Jan. 29, 1890, under Chapter 145, Laws of 1885 .. The first officers were: Presi- dent, Casper Capser; trustees, Martin Loso, Charles Maas, and Michael Pfannen- stein; treasurer, Michael Loso; recorder, N. A. Parish. The present officers are: President, Ben Aschenbrenner; trustees, Joseph Staller, Joseph Hiemenz and Wil- liam Kellner; treasurer, Michael Loso; and recorder, John Lauermann.
St. Joseph, with a population of 750, is one of the busy trading centers of the county. It is in the north-central part of St. Joseph township, on the Great North- ern, seven miles west of St. Cloud. It has a Catholic church, a hospital, a ladies' academy, a convent, a bank, a flour mill, a creamery, and a hotel. It ships grain, hides and produce.
Mrs. Susan Muller, postmistress; Law.
rence Baloh, shoes; First State Bank, cap- ital, $10,000, Nicholas Muller, president, J. C. Crever, cashier; J. J. Hiemenz, black- smith; Kellner Bros., meats; Henry Ken- evel, barber; Susan Kotscheva, general store; Jos. M. Linnemann, general store; Martin Loso, general store; Emil F. Lux, railroad agent; Nicholas Muller, lands; Mrs. Susan Muller, milliner; Geo. Pfan- nenstein, wagonmaker; Pfannenstein & Wink, livery; H. A. Pinault, physician; M. Roeder, wagonmaker; St. Benedict's Col- lege, Sister Dominica Borgerding, direct- ress; St. Benedict's Convent, Mother Ce- cilia Kapsner, superioress; St. Benedict's Hospital, conducted by the Sisters of St. Benedict; St. Joseph Creamery, St. Joseph Lumber & Implement Co .; St. Joseph Township Mutual Fire Insurance Co .; Schroeder Milling Co .; J. E. Schwartz, harness; Jno. Toben, shoemaker; Warnert Brothers, undertakers; Washington Hotel, Geo. Myer, proprietor.
ST. MARTIN TOWNSHIP.
St. Martin township lies near the center of the county. It has an area of 23,040 acres of which almost all are under culti- vation, and embraces all of township 124 north, range 32 east. It is bounded on the north by the township of Oak, on the east by Farming, on the south by Zion, and on the west by Spring Hill. The southern part of the township is watered by the Sauk river, along the banks of which are some fine meadows bordered by prairie land, most of which is under cultivation. The northern part is brush and timber with some swamps and marsh land, a good portion of which is drained by ditches. In 1857 a settlement was made south of the river by Henry Ley, J. C. Noll, Peter Haehn, Peter Kuhl and Peter Frevel. Mr. Ley fell from a wagon and was killed in 1865; Mr. Kuhl died the same year; Haehn died in 1894; Noll in 1899, and Frevel in 1906. North of the river the first perma- nent settler was William Bosworth in 1857. He was followed during the same year by Eben and W. A. Pillsbury. Their land is
now owned partly by Mrs. Christian Rausch and partly by John Garding. The year following quite a number arrived, mostly Americans, so that this came to be known as the "American settlement." All
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of these families have moved away, and now, with but few exceptions, the people are German. The population by the census of 1910 was 601.
In 1858, a line of stages between St. Cloud and Fort Abercrombie opened a pub- lic thoroughfare along the valley, and passed through this town on the north side of the river. A postoffice, called Kenne- bec, was established at the residence of Eben Pillsbury, but both stage-route and postoffice were discontinued on the com- pletion of the railroad to Melrose.
The territory now embraced in St. Mar- tin township, was included in the town of Verdale, organized in 1858. In 1859 Ma- rion was organized and included all the territory now contained in St. Martin, Lake Henry, Spring Hill, and a portion of Lake George. The name was soon after changed to Kennebec, and the territory re- duced so as to contain only what is now St. Martin and Spring Hill. The name was again changed, in 1863, to St. Martin, and the town reduced to its present limits on the organization of Spring Hill, in 1871.
The officers elected at the organization of Marion, now St. Martin township, were: Supervisors, William Bosworth (chair- man), Andrew Nett, and J. B. Getchell; clerk, E. E. Abbott; assessor, John C. Noll; and collector, Oscar R. Champlin. The present officers are: Supervisors, Mike McGowan (chairman), Henry Schaefer and Peter Mohs; clerk, Peter Kuhl; treasurer, Math Kuhl; assessor, Jos. Rausch.
The first school in the town was taught by a Miss Brooks in the winter of 1861-62, in the house of William Bosworth. This was a private school and derived its sup- port chiefly from Mr. Bosworth. There are now four schools in the township; one in the village, consisting of two rooms, J. C. Diekmann, principal, and Henry B. Haehn, assistant; one in section twenty- three, district 81, Ben J .. Kruchten teacher; one in section twenty, district 125, Henry J. Adrian teacher. The total number of pupils enrolled in these schools is 197.
The Sauk Valley Creamery Co .- This creamery was organized Feb. 10, 1897. The persons principally interested in the or- ganization were: Math L. Mehr, John Garding, Jos. Noll, Nick Mohs, Henry Ah- mann, John Fleischhacker and others. The
first officers were: Math Mehr, president; Jos. Noll, secretary; Nick Mohs, John Garding and Henry Ahmann, directors. The creamery is located about a quarter of a mile out of the village of St. Martin. The site was obtained from J. C. Noll by a lease for twenty years. The present offi- cers are: Nick Blonigen, president; Theo Mimbach, secretary; Mich. Schlick, Geo. Ehresmann and John Fleischhacker, di- rectors. The old building is still used, but many changes have been made. Recently a new gasoline engine was installed. Dur- ing 1912 1,110,251 pounds of milk, 320,152 pounds of cream and 113,518 pounds of butterfat were received, and $34,120.43 was paid out to patrons. The receipts from butter, milk, cream, etc., during the year were $37,120.07. There are about 86 pa- trons who own together about 1,000 cows.
ST. MARTIN VILLAGE.
The village of St. Martin is located in the southeast corner of the township of St. Martin in sections 25, 26 and 35, 36, on the south bank of the Sauk river.
The first house in what is now the vil- lage of St. Martin was a log shanty, 16 by 24 feet, built by Henry Ley in the fall of 1857. In 1866 Joseph Zimmerman opened a general store here and about the same time the postoffice was established and named Leedstone. Later it was changed to St. Martin, and on Oct. 14, 1905, it was discontinued, a rural delivery route being established from Zion postoffice, five miles distant. This route is operated by Jos. Hammes.
There are at present one general store, two hardware and grocery stores, two sa- loons, two blacksmith shops, one wagon repair shop, one shoe repair shop and one creamery. There is one Catholic church and cemetery, a four-room school and a village hall.
The village of St. Martin was incorpo- rated in the year 1891. The officers were F. X. Wenck, president; Henry Loosbroek, Nick Hockert, Peter Haehn, trustees; and Nick Bohnen, recorder. The first meeting was held on Jan. 12, 1892. The minutes of proceedings of that meeting show the members present to have been: F. X. Wenck, president; Henry Loosbrock, Nick Hockert, Peter Haehn, trustees; and Nick
SAUK CENTRE PARK.
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Bohnen, recorder. The following resolu- tion was passed: The liquor license in the village of St. Martin shall be $500 per an- num. The bond of Nick Schlicht for sell- ing liquor was accepted and the recorder was authorized to issue the necessary pa- pers. The bond of Maggie Loosbrock and John Luckanitch for selling liquor was ac- cepted and the recorder authorized to is- sue the necessary papers. The meeting adjourned until Feb. 2, 1892.
The present officers are: Val Haehn, president; Math. Barthel, Frank Reaser, John Mondloch, trustees; Henry B. Haehn, recorder. The village has fire protection and cement sidewalks, and is at present planning to replace the old kerosene street lamps by gasoline lamps, four of which are to be installed if the one or- dered on thirty days' trial proves to be satisfactory.
(Note .- The above articles on St. Mar- tin township and village were prepared by Henry B. Haehn.)
SAUK CENTRE.
The white man who first set his foot on the spot where now rises the beautiful lit- tle city of Sauk Centre was probably a reckless adventurer inspired by wander- lust. He passed on, leaving never a trace behind him, and has now ended his aim- less journeyings through the world. To this nomadic class belong not the real pio- neers of a country, they who build its civ- ilization. With these latter it is a desire for the erection of homes that sends them forth to endure all the hardships and perils of a new and uninhabited country. The love of home is instinctive with them: Wher'er one's wife and children are,
There shines the best of earth to him; No other land is quite so fair,
All other skies are somewhat dim.
And it is this laying of the foundation of a society that breeds sturdiness of char- acter. We shall miss this element in our American life, this indomitable spirit of the pioneers, when our population shall have covered the country to the extent that there will be no more new lands to conquer.
The first settlement made in Sauk Cen- tre was in the year 1856. It consisted of what was known as the "Sauk Centre Townsite Co.," comprised of seven persons,
of whom the leading spirit in the enter- prise was Alexander Moore, who was then acting as agent for his mother, Rachel Moore. His arrival in this locality was probably antedated by that of W. R. James, the latter, however, after a short stay had departed to return a few years later. Al- though the township had not then been sub-divided, the outlines of a townsite were staked out.
The first human residence was in an ex- cavation in the bluff near the river. It was lined with poles and put to the general use of a squatter's shanty ..
In June of the following year the erec- tion of a dam across Sauk River was be- gun by Messrs. Moore & Jaques. A small log house was built on the banks of the river, but the historical financial crisis of that year prevented them from getting any further, and leaving S. M. Bruce, who had purchased an interest in the enterprise, in possession of the claim during the winter of 1857-58 his associates returned to the protection of civilization. When the ice broke up in 1858 the whole scheme met its Waterloo for the time being by the carry- ing away of the partially constructed dam. These early settlers, however, possessed an indomitable spirit and the dam was re- built in 1860, and a small sawmill was put in operation. During the same summer the first blacksmith shop in Sauk Centre was built by Jesse Draper. The first frame building constructed in the township of Sauk Centre was the residence of Charles Merry, which was built about the year 1859.
The first meeting of the settlers for any purpose occurred July 16, 1857, when they formed what was known as the "Sauk Val- ley Claim Association" with constitution and by-laws. The preservation of good feeling among the settlers and the protec- tion of claims were the object of the asso- ciation. Its officers were S. M. Bruce, presi- dent; Moses Adley, vice-president; Ed. Gib- son, secretary. The association members were W. T. Dingley, Edw. K. Jacques, Sid- ney A. Irish, N. G. Bradley, Chas. P. Pol- lard, and Robert Wheeler. This associa- tion, however, was disbanded after a few meetings on account of the disadvantages arising from being compelled to hold claims for parties not interested in the progress of the town.
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A postoffice was established in Sauk Centre in 1858 through the efforts of S. M. Bruce, W. Adley being appointed post- master. The first store was opened by Pendergast & Fish in the spring of 1861. This was located in what is now known as "James' Addition" to Sauk Centre, which was then about 40 rods beyond the townsite line. The first store within the village limits was established by Joseph Capser in 1864.
In 1861 H. A. Boobar built a dwelling house and moved into it with his family. The first hotel, known as the Sauk Centre House, was built in 1863 by W. Adley. In the same year Alexander Moore built upon and occupied as a family residence, what is now the southeast corner of Main and Third streets.
The Indian outbreak in 1862 caused a scurrying of the few settlers in the vicinity to Sauk Centre, where a stockade was built about the store belonging to Pender- gast & Fish. Several houses were built within the enclosure and a military post was established here.
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