USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County, Minnesota > Part 10
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February 7, 1854, Goodhue (to which Wabasha County was attached for judicial purposes), Fillmore, Washington and Chisago Counties were consti- tuted the First Judicial District, and assigned to Chief Justice W. H. Welch. Judge Welch served as chief justice of the supreme court, and as judge of the district embracing this county until May 24, 1858.
Since the admission of the state, May 11, 1858, Wabasha County has been in the Third Judicial District. The district originally included Houston, Olm- sted, Fillmore, Wabasha and Winona counties. Since January 1, 1873, the district has included Winona, Wabasha and Olmsted counties.
Thomas Wilson took his seat on the bench May 24, 1858. July 1, 1864, having been appointed to the supreme court, he resigned, and Lloyd Barber was
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY
appointed to fill the vacancy. Judge Barber served until January 1, 1872, when he was succeeded by C. N. Waterman. Judge Waterman died February 18, 1873, after a brief interval, in which F. M. Crosby of the First District was on the bench, John Van Dyke was appointed to fill the vacancy. William Mit- chell took office January 8, 1874. The session of the legislature of 1881 in- creased the number of supreme court judges in this state from three to five, and Judge Mitchell was appointed to fill one of the two judgeships this created. Charles M. Start was accordingly appointed to the bench of the third district. He served from March 14, 1881, to January 7, 1895. O. B. Gould served from January 7, 1895, to January 5, 1897. A. H. Snow took office January 5, 1897.
In the winter of 1854 the village of Wabasha was designated, by legislative enactment as the county seat of Wabasha County. Alexis Bailly was chosen the first justice of the peace of the county, and an effort made to establish law and order.
The first term of the district court for the county was held in what was known as H. S. Allen & Co.'s warehouse, in the spring of 1856, William H. Welch presiding; S. L. Campbell, clerk; Blois S. Hurd, sheriff, and Thomas Wilson, of Winona, district attorney. No business of importance was trans- acted. The bar of the county was John McKee, J. W. Tyson and S. L. Campbell. No grand or petit jurors were in attendance, and after hearing a few motions and granting a few naturalization papers, court adjourned. At the next term of the district court there was a full attendance of jurors. Seventeen indict- ments were found, all of which were dismissed for irregularity. Samuel Cole was district attorney and J. W. Tyson acted as county attorney.
Alexis Bailly applied for admission to the bar as a qualified attorney, but failed to pass an examination. He was subsequently admitted at St. Paul. Being asked by one of the attorneys of the county how he managed to pass an examination, he replied that he had a bottle of champagne under each arm and two in his pockets, and nary a question was asked by the committee.
J. A. Criswell succeeded Alexis Bailly in the administration of the law, and was the principal judicial officer of the county, until it was organized for judicial purposes. Although his education was limited, he was an excellent judge of the law, having held the office of justice of the peace in Michigan and Minnesota for over twenty years. Seldom was one of his decisions reversed. He was a man of iron will and strong physical ability, which well fitted him for a frontier justice of the peace. The following incident will illustrate his man- ner of administering justice. At one time one of the leading physicians was before him, charged with an assault and battery upon one John Murray. During the trial the contestants engaged in a fisticuff, in which the learned justice immediately took a hand, sending each of the combatants to his respective corner. Saying as he did so, "I fine you $20 each for fighting in my court, and you will pay it before you leave the room, or I will lick hell out of you." The doctor soon produced the $20, but Murray could only find $10. Criswell very generously remitted the balance, saying, "The fine goes to the poor, and I would like to see any one poorer than I am," as he chinked the money into his pocket.
The first attorneys to settle in the county and open offices were Frank Clark and John McKee.
The first term of the district court for Wabasha County, under the state organization, was held in what was then known as Hurd's Hall, in Wabasha, in the fall of 1858, Thos. Wilson, presiding; S. A. Kemp, clerk; John W. Tyson, district attorney; R. M. Piner, sheriff; Wm. J. Jacobs, foreman of the grand jury. There was quite a strong bar present: John N. Murdoch, John McKee, John W. Tyson and S. L. Campbell, resident attorneys of the county, with quite a number of outside attorneys in attendance. Among the most noted of these were William Windom and Charles H. Berry, of Winona, J. W. Brisbin, of St. Paul. Quite a number of civil cases were tried. Seventeen indictments were found by the grand jury, all of which was quashed on motion for informalities in the drawing of the indictments.
CHAPTER X.
EARLY PHYSICIANS.
The first physician in Wabasha County was Dr. M. Thurston, whose stay was brief. The first regularly graduated physician in the county was Dr. F. H. Milligan.
For two or three years he enjoyed the field alone, not only the whole of Wabasha County, but the whole region on both sides of the river, a territory almost equal to a New England state. In 1857 he left the county and located at Hastings, Dakota County, but returned to Wabasha in 1858.
In the winter of 1855-56, Dr. J. P. Bowen arrived on the ground and soon formed a copartnership with Dr. Milligan, which continued for a year. . Dr. Bowen remained at Wabasha until the spring of 1859, when he left for a less severe climate.
In the year 1855 Dr. Geo. F. Childs and Dr. N. S. Teft located in the flourish- ing village of Minneiska, and continued in the practice of medicine, both in town and country, until 1860, when Dr. Childs went to Washington, D. C .; and Dr. Teft removed to Plainview, where he led an active and laborious life.
In the early spring of 1856 Dr. O. S. Lont took up a residence in Mazeppa. Of modest demeanor, genial and kindhearted, he did not claim to his compeers to be a graduate of any school.
In the summer of 1857 Dr. W. L. Lincoln commenced the practice of medi- cine in the city of Wabasha.
In 1857 Dr. Chauncy Gibbs, of Painesville, Ohio, worn out by the practice of his profession, to renew his failing health and if possible to prolong his life, removed to a farm on the beautiful prairie where now is Plainview. He did not contemplate the practice of his profession, but a noble soul can never know of suffering without offering relief, so he was again in the harness for a few short months.
The exact date is not obtained, but not far removed in point of time, Dr. C. C. Vilas located at Lake City, remaining a few years, and then removing to Michigan to return again to Lake City after the close of the war.
In 1860 Dr. Sheldon Brooks removed from Winona County to Minneiska ; and while he gave a large share of his time to business, he practiced his pro- fession as the occasion demanded his services, and so he may be well among the men who have contributed their share to give honor to the profession of Wabasha County.
The Wabasha County Medical Society was organized in 1869, at Lake City, which at that time had no physician. The first officers were: Dr. F. H. Milligan, president; Dr. E. C. Spaulding, of Lake City, secretary. The slip cut from the local weekly newspaper was clipped of its date. Dr. Spaulding was not engaged in the practice of medicine, but a newspaperman of Lake City. Dr. R. N. Murray, who was at this time engaged in the milling business, soon after this meeting entered upon a practice at Lake City. Dr. W. H. Spafford, of the same place, belonged to this organization until his death. Dr. Isaac J. Wells was also one of the charter members, as was Dr. P. C. Remondino, a graduate of Jefferson College, Philadelphia, but a convert to the tenets of Hahnemann.
Later members of the society during the first fifteen years of its existence were: 1869, Drs. J. P. Waste and N. S. Teft, of Plainview; 1870, Drs. F. Lessing, of Wabasha, and B. F. La Rue of Lake City; 1871, Dr. G. R. Patten, of Lake City and Dr. J. C. Adams (honorary) ; 1872, Dr. William L. Lincoln of Wabasha, and Dr. Bacon, of Mazeppa; 1875, Drs. J. P. Davis, of Kellogg, E. A. Tupper (a partner of Dr. Milligan), W. F. Adams, of Elgin, and Dr. Stone; 1876, Dr. F. W. Van Dyke; 1877, Dr. Low, of Wabasha; 1878, Dr. Charles W. Tinker, of Wa- basha, 1883, Dr. Charles W. Crary and Dr. Curry.
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CHAPTER XI.
PLAINVIEW VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP.
Plainview, the metropolis of Greenwood Prairie, is located in the town of the same name. It is a noted shipping center for the shipping of farm produce, a fact which makes the land in this vicinity sell at a higher price than any other rural land in the state. The village is well laid out, with broad streets, flourishing business houses, and comfortable homes surrounded with well kept lawns beautified with trees and shrubbery. The village has two banks, a good hotel, a flourishing newspaper, two elevators, several produce concerns, a creamery, a stock shipping association, a canning factory, a pickling station, and the usual business houses. The municipal improvements include a city hall, a public library, a projected park, waterworks and electric light service. The school is an excellent one, and adds much to the beauty of the village. Five churches are represented here, the German Lutheran, Congregational, Methodist Episcopal, Christian and Catholic. The leading fraternities and ladies' organizations also flourish here.
Plainview Village had its beginning in the spring of 1856, when J. Y. Blackwell, an Iowa lawyer, arrived with his family, and erected a structure, half logs, half boards, near the southeast corner of Broadway anad Jefferson streets. Mr. Blackwell was a man of some means, and he saw the possibilities of making this point a stopping place for those traveling from Mississippi river landing places to the rich farm lands further south and east. Conse- quently he set about getting out timbers for a hotel. This building, which occupied the southwest corner of Broadway and Washington streets, the present site of the Plainview Hotel, was opened for the accommodation of the public July 4, 1856. Ozias Wilcox arrived that summer and bought from Hugh Wiley forty acres in section 8. On this property, directly north of the hotel, on the northwest corner of Broadway and Washington, he built a combined residence and store. David Von Wort put up a carpenter shop, and Bray and blacksmith shop. A few others, Edwin Chapman, Lloyd Yale, David Ackley and Dr. Federal C. Gibbs had land nearby, and Levi Ormsby had a claim shanty a half mile to the west. These named, some of whom were single, and a few of whom had their families with them, constituted the population of this immediate vicinity when the terrible winter of 1856-57 set in.
In November, 1856, came a terriffic snow storm followed by other storms, and the snow lay some four feet deep on the level until the following April. In some places the snow sweeping over the prairies, found the little shacks their only obstruction, and buried them in a mountain of snow. Communication with the outside world was cut off, there was no news, no letters, no visitors, and few comforts. The people near the village were therefore decidedly better off than the scattered settlers in the more isolated cabins on the prairie, for they had the well stocked store of Mr. Wilcox from which to secure provisions. The winds sweeping around the corners of this building cleaned a small court about it, leaving sheer white walls, hard and icy, rising to the crust covered snow of the general level. Into this icy wall, steps were cut, giving means of entrance and exit to the court and the store until the warm weather of the next April enveloped the landscape in slush. This severity of the winter dis- heartened many of the people in the settlement. But the beautiful spring brought encouragement, many indeed lacked the means to try their fortunes elsewhere, and consequently but few of the settlers moved away. Mr. Black- well, the first settler, however, shrank from the hardships of another winter, and after assisting in platting the village, disposed of his holdings and returned to Iowa. Other settlers, however, came in, and before another winter dawned, the little hamlet was materially increased.
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The village was platted as Centerville in the summer of 1857 by J. Y. Blackwell, Ozias Wilcox, T. A. Thompson, Lloyd Yale and Federal C. Gibbs. Another Minnesota village having chosen that name, however, the cognomen of the new village was changed to Plainview, a name appropriate to its position on the watershed of the Zumbrota and Whitewater rivers.
For a time the village had a rival in Greenville, afterward Greenwood, two and a half miles east. But Greenville was within the limits of the Half-Breed Tract, land titles were somewhat uncertain, investors were not attracted, and after a while the discouraged promoters gave up the fight, and the business was transferred to Plainview.
In the next twenty years, Plainview became a place of considerable im- portance, as the shipping, banking and religious center of a rich farming community. No railroads connected the village with the outside world, the shipping and receiving points were towns on the Mississippi. But buyers brought grain here, a bank did a flourishing business, the stores kept a good stock of goods, the hotel did a thriving business, and the stage coach was always well filled with passengers to and from Plainview.
In 1877 came a tragedy which is still the subject of many exciting stories among the old settlers. On January 22 of that year, Frank Hathaway, aged 24, the son of a Highland Township farmer, shot and killed Nettie Slayton, who had refused to marry him. He immediately made an unsuccessful attempt to kill himself. Three days later he was taken from a room in the Plainview Hotel, and hanged to a tree in the back yard. The hanging was done by an orderly group of masked men, supposedly substantial citizens, and no effort was ever made to apprehend or punish them.
The railroad was completed to Plainview in 1878, and thus furnished a railroad outlet for the growing business of the village.
The special issue of the Plainview News of February 22, 1879, gives an excellent word picture of Plainview as it was a few months after the arrival of the railroad. The village had perhaps 900 people, although a hopeful estimate of 1,200 was made. It contained 176 comfortable residences, and 47 business houses. It had a railroad station, a graded school and a good postoffice. The churches were the Methodist Episcopal, the Congregational and the Christian. The lodges were Plainview Lodge, No. 16, I. O. O. F., organized December 26, 1866; Illustrious Lodge, No. 63, A. F. & A. M., organized December 29, 1866; Plainview Lodge, No. 21, Ancient Order of United Workmen, organized August 18, 1877; and Plainview Society, Independent Order of Good Templars, organ- ized in November, 1878. The first three met in the hall over F. J. Cornwall's store on Broadway, and the last met in the schoolhouse.
There were four physicians, Dr. N. S. Tefft, who commenced practicing on Greenwood Prairie from Minneiska, in 1856, and moved to Plainview in 1861; Dr. J. P. Waste, who located at Plainview in 1865; Dr. F. H. Roberts, a homeo- path, who came to Minnesota in 1868 and engaged in practice in Plainview in 1871; and Dr. E. C. Davis, who engaged in practice in Plainview in 1876. Dr. M. E. Tabor, the only dentist, started practice in Plainview in 1874, the first of his profession to this village. There were two lawyers, H. P. Wilson, who came to Plainview in 1856, and J. F. Pope, who started practice here May 19, 1874. G. L. Robinson, not an admitted lawyer, also started a law and collec- tion business in 1879. The two veterinarians were J. H. French and O. D. Curtis.
The Plainview Hotel, established in 1856, had been burned in 1877. It was immediately rebuilt by John Bigham, who had been its proprietor since 1868. The Plainview Bank was in the hands of Amerland & La Rue. It had been established in 1865.
Four general stores catered to the mercantile business. F. J. Cornwall started business with John Taylor in the spring of 1866 and became the sole owner in July, 1876. William Koenig started business in May, 1867. W. F.
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Robinson succeeded J. R. Mclaughlin in April, 1866. Whiting & Co. started in October, 1878, about the time of the building of the railroad. The hardware business was handled by C. C. Cornwall & Son, dating back to 1865 and Douglas & Co., dating back to 1876.
There were two drug stores, The Pioneer Drug Co., in the hands of Landon & Burchard since August, 1874, employed C. C. Clement, George Landon and A. French. The Little Drug Store, owned by P. A. Goddard and Co., the firm consisting of P. A. Goddard and Drs. Tefft and Waste, and employing George Pegley, was established by T. G. Bolton in April 1877. J. R. Watkins was manufacturing Dr. Ward's proprietary articles, as well as extracts and essences.
Julius Frickey, even at that time one of the oldest business houses in town, had been established as early as 1860. He did general harness making and dealt in leather goods. J. W. Reifkogel, engaged in the same line, estab- lished his business in 1871. John Thom, shoemaker and dealer, established himself in February, 1875, and Henry Hinz at about the same time. A. R. Nelson established his tailor shop in 1876, and J. Welshans not far from the same time.
Kellom & Company, established in January, 1868, and M. Lambie, who started in November, 1877, carried on the millinery business. B. F. Leininger first engaged in the jewelry business in 1870 and C. M. Allen engaged in the same line November 1, 1878. A. D. Wyant established a photograph gallery in March, 1876. T. J. Wadleigh & Son opened a furniture store in May, 1877.
The grocery business was handled by four concerns. Lawton Brothers, consisting of W. and I. P. Lawton, and employing C. S. Lawton, was estab- lished in November, 1867. Henry Potter opened his establishment in February, 1873. F. E. Dodge succeeded G. F. Gregg in February, 1879. C. A. Orr, who had a bakery in connection, started about 1878. There were two dealers in agricultural implements, John McArthur, established in 1873, and McLaughlin & Lynch, established in 1878.
The Brooks Brothers started buying wheat in December, 1876, their local representative being George Mckinney. Whiting & Woodruff built their eleva- tor in the late fall of 1878 at the time of the arrival of the railroad. Brooks Brothers also had a lumber yard in charge of George Mckinney. T. G. Bolton, the other dealer, started about the time of the arrival of the railroad. The Plainview Flouring Mill was established in 1869 by C. T. Allaire, but in 1879 had passed into the hands of the Plainview Mill Co.
Ezra Feller established a livery business April 29, 1878. A. Davey started a billiard hall May 28, 1872, and C. C. Maxwell in August, 1877. Both sold fancy groceries in connection with their establishments. Weikel & Fedder established a meat market in 1862. Charles Welshans commenced barbering in Plainview August, 1872. Fitch & Abbott succeeded George Smith late in 1878.
Henry Horton, established in the fall of 1864; C. C. Maxwell established in August, 1866; B. R. Lee, established September 17, 1878, were conducting wagon-making shops. H. D. Adams, established in April, 1876, and George Stratton, were doing sign and carriage painting. Four blacksmiths were doing business, S. Purvis, J. Springer, A. Pomeroy and Hardy & Son, three of the concerns having started in 1865, and one, J. Springer, in March, 1876. Among the carpenters were Carroll & Clark, J. W. Marcyes, D. Z. Taylor and Abe Gaskill.
It is interesting to note that in 1919, the two leading mercantile concerns of that day are still in existence. The F. J. Cornwall & Co. store is managed by T. A. Askew, and the William Koenig has recently been succeeded by the Schad Mercantile Co. The harness business is in the hands of the same fami- lies, the two establishments being conducted by Albert J. Frickey and William Reifkogel. Nearly all the establishments are the direct successors of the estab- lishments of 1879 but have changed hands.
Plainview was first incorporated as a village, in the spring of 1875. The first officers were E. B. Eddy, president; Charles Weld, Dr. J. P. Waste and
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY
William Lawton, trustees; A. C. Cornwall, recorder; Rodman Burchard, treasurer ; and A. B. W. Norton, justice of the peace. In 1878 the incorporation was abandoned in order that the village might vote with the township on the question of issuing bonds for the building of the railroad from Eyota to Plain- view.
The village has two wells. The older well was drilled in 1895. It has an 8-inch diameter tube down to the rock, and then a 6-inch hole in the rick to the underlying sand strata. The average yield of water is 31 gallons a minute. The newer well was drilled in 1898. It has 60 feet of 12-inch casing to the lime rock, 300 feet of 10-inch casing through lime rock and loose sand, and an 8-inch drilled hole in blue sand rock. The total depth is 697 feet partly filled to a depth of about 50 feet through dropping cylinders and drop pike, to that the remaining depth is about 650 feet. The depth from the surface to the water is 240 feet. The capacity is 56.5 gallons a minute. The tank is of wood construction, elevated on an 80-foot steel tower. The tank has a mean diameter of 22 feet 9 inches, and a capacity of 60,000 gallons. The mains consist of some 25,000 feet of 4- and 6-inch pipes.
Plainview State Bank was established in 1865, and conducted as a private bank known as the "Eddy Bank" until 1878. From that year until 1884 it was known as the Henry Amerland Bank. In 1884 J. H. Davis, Jr., secured control and in 1885 erected the bank building, which in 1916 was enlarged and made to include the post office building. On July 1, 1906, it was incorporated with a capital of $30,000, by E. L. Sylvester, G. F. Sylvester and Wilhelm Uecker, who were also the officers and directors. In 1908 A. S. Kennedy entered the bank as assistant cashier and in 1911 G. A. Stoltz also became assistant cashier. The institution is a member of the State Bankers' Association. A recent state- ment showed, in addition to its capital of $30,000, surplus and profits of $30,000, and deposits of about $900,000.
The First National Bank of Plainview was incorporated May 14, 1902, by A. L. Ober, Joseph Underleak, F. G. Shumway, Geo. N. Wedge and Frank L. Meachum, who were also the first directors. A. L. Ober was president and F. G. Shumway cashier. The bank opened for business July 1, 1902. The building was purchased from A. F. Rockwell, hotel keeper, and was formerly used for a sample-room in connection with the hotel. A. L. Ober remained president until January 15, 1908, being followed by M. D. Fuller, who held the office to January 15, 1917, since which time J. I. Vermilya has filled it. F. G. Shumway was cashier to November 13, 1906; M. D. Fuller, November 13, 1906 to January 15, 1908; Amos Boie, January 15, 1908, to August 1, 1910; Matt T. Duerre, Sep- tember 7, 1910, to January 13, 1920; Geo. H. Vermilya, January 13, 1920, to date. Vice-presidents: Andrew French, January 13, 1903, to January 9, 1906; J. J. Reiter, January 9, 1906, to January 15, 1910; James R. Wedge, January 15, 1910, to January 14, 1913; H. D. Wedge, January 14, 1913, to January 9, 1917; Miller T. Bolton, January 9, 1917, to March 10, 1920; Mead Vermilya, March 10, 1920, to the present time. Assistant cashiers: Ralph C. Wedge, January 13, 1903, for one year; W. W. Wedge, January 16, 1904, one year; Amos Boie, May 1, 1907, to January 15, 1908; Grover C. Tock, June 1, 1910, to March, 1914; John Fisk, July 18, 1914, to July 22, 1915; Geo. H. Vermilya, August 19, 1915, to January 13, 1920; Arthur W. Wempner, from January 13, 1920 to date. The First National is known as "The bank that gives personal service." It has a capital stock (incorporated) of $25,000.00, and its statement of condition, issued February 28, 1920, showed a surplus and undivided profits of $7,767.38, with deposits of $350,028.40.
The excellent school system of Plainview dates back to 1858, when a school was established in David Van Wort's carpenter shop in the village. A young Vermonter named Hale was the teacher. The next schoolhouse was a small building which had previously been occupied as an office and drug store by Federal C. Gibbs. A school building was erected on the public square in 1867.
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY
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