History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 2

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1222


USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County, Minnesota > Part 2


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Nibbe, John 749 Nichols, Henry H. 247 Nichols, Orville G. 500 Nienow, Charles 293 Nolan, James W. 344


Nordine, Charles G. 358


Nordine, John 651 Norton, James 584


Norton, Patrick T. 690 Nygren, Carl 547


Nygren, Charles E. 458 Nygren, Charles J. 343 Nygren, Oscar W. 445


O'Brien, Frank M. 706 O'Brien, James R. 444


O'Brien, John 705


O'Brien, John S. 706


O'Connell, Herbert J. 240 O'Connell, J. H. 290 Oelkers, Hein 750


Oelkers, Henry A. 750


Oelkers, William B. 435


O'Laughlin, Martin J. 655


Olin, Caleb W. 332 Olson, Albert 333 Olson, Gust 540 Olson, Ole 592


Olson, Ole H. 395


Olson, Ole S. 777


Orcutt, Lemuel J. 268


Ordway, Benjamin S. 478


Ordway, Elijah 477


Paine, John H. 605


Palmer, Peter O. 565


Parkinson, James W. 718


Passe, Herman 353


Passe, John B. 536


Passe, John B. and Henry 537


Patchin, Augustus E. 405


Patchin, James 405


Pearson, Charles J. 382


Pencille, Orrin 747


Pencille. William D. 747


Pesch, Theodore M. 501


Peshon, John 523


Peters, Alfred G. 353


Peters, Hans 365


Peters, Peter 352


Peters, Samuel 514


Petersen, Daniel L. 733


Peterson, John M. 603


Peterson, Ole O, 769


Petrich, Charles R. 264 Pfeilsticker, Louis 524


Pfeilsticker, Louis P. 524


Philley, David L. 753


Philley, John E. 754


Phillips, Louis A. 502


Phillips, William 476 Pike, Joseph 627


Pike, Nelson C. 628


Plein, John H. 731


Podein, Carl F. 464


Polson, Emric 529


Polson, Paul J. 462


Polson, William O. 375


Posz, Albert D. 283


Posz, Charles 282


Posz, Jacob 282


Pretzer. George J. 464


Puetz, Paul 667


Pugh, David 439


Purcell, George J. 642


Putnam, Alzis Z. 437


Putnam, Edgar W. 365


Putnam, William S. 603


Quigley, Martin 559


Quigley, Michael 558


Quigley, Stephen M. 559


Radabaugh, Jackson B. 76 Rahilly, Patrick H. 432


XV


INDEX TO BIOGRAPHIES


Reding, Stephen J. 753 Reich, Henry W. 436 Reich, Herman 253 Reifkogel, J. W. 250 Reifkogel, William 251 Reimers, John 526 Reincke, Dedrick 707 Reiter, Emil W. 463 Reiter, Julius 556


Reiter, William O. 557 Rheingans, Henry W. 348 Rheingans, Rudolph J. 776 Rich, Nie 696 Richardson, Charles S. 403 Richardson, Clyde S. 405


Richardson, Frank J. 404


Richardson, Horatio G. 392


Richardson, John Q. 576 Richardson, Joseph 470 Richardson, Ralph W. 577. Richardson, William H. 408 Richmond, Charles E. 289 Richmond, George C. 288 Riester, John 611 Rietman, Henry W. 749 Riley, Charles 672 Riley, John T. 672 Ring, John F. 611 Ritzenthaler, Albert W. 362


Roberson, Frank B. 715 Roberson, Henry H. 714 Roberts, Alfred C. 418 Roberts, Francis H. 493 Robinson, John 594 Robinson, Samuel 593 Rock, William 236 Rohweder, John 316 Rohweder, Bernhardt E. 316


Rolandt, Joseph 640 Rollins, Irvin W. 504 Roschen, John 779 Roschen, Henry 778 Roschen, Louis H. 623 Roseboom, Garrett 757


Roseboom, John J. 758


Roseboom, Nathaniel A. 757 Rosolack, Albert 487 Rother, Charles 348 Rother, Charles J. 634 Rother, Edward V. 370 Rother, Gottlieb 369 Rother, William E. 633


Rucker, Martin J. 685


Russell, George H. 441 Rutz, Nicholas 631 Sader, Louis 354 Sanders, Otto 615 Sass, Frederick 337 Sass, Frederick A. 337 Sass, Lawrence E. 337 Schacht, William 450 Schad, Christian 251 Schad, Christian 484 Schad, August C. 483 Schad, Edward 363 Schad, Frank 252 Schad, Joseph J. 688 Schad, Gottfried 687 Schafer, Peter 355 Schandel, August G. 638 Scheer, Kaspar 548 Schierts, Joseph C. 484 Schleicher, Arthur 345


Schmeidberg, John M. 449 Schmidt, Henry 421 Schmidt, John B. 336 Schmidt, John C. 339 Schmidt, John E. 340


Schmidt, Joseph 420 Schmidt, Joseph 411 Schmidt, Julius 387 Schmidt, Paul E. 231 Schmidt, William C. 486


Schmoker, William J. 561


Schneider, Michael 460 Scholte, Frederick 645 Schouweiler, Nicholas 396


Schroeder, Henry G. 453


Schroeder, Herman C. 401 Scruby, Levi E. 587 Schulz, August 327 Schultz, Edward J. 468 Schultz, Ernest E. 374


Schultz, George 635 Schultz, John E. 391


Schultz, William 468


Schumann, Frederick C. 640


Schumann, John 639


Schurb, Joseph H. 453


Schurhammer, George 455


Schurhammer, Joseph 676


Schuth, Anton 667


Schwantz, Alfred J. 452


Schwantz, Emil 451


Schwedes, Henry 677


Schwirtz, Andrew 620


Schwirtz, George 583


Scott, Alexander 504


Scott, Briney 720 Searles, De Wane 510


Searles, John E. 693


Searles, William 509


Seivert, Nicholas P. 548


Sell, Emil J. 511 Sexton, John 654


Seymour, Alfred 278 Seymour, Harvey 277


Shade, John C. 649


Shields, Patrick 330


Shierts, Jr., John 781


Shore, Chalmer S. 683 Siem, C. H. 525 Siem, John D. 334


Siercks, Otto C. 720


Siewert, Alfred J. 700


Siewert, Carl 450


Sinclair, Colin 778 Sinclair, Leon C. 778 Slawson, Arthur W. 533 Slauson, Daniel C. 660


Smith, Augustus 242 Smith, Ervin E. 244


Smith, Frank F. 276


Smith, Harry D. 242 Smith, Hiram 242


Smith, Hugh R. 517 Smith, Milton 243


Smith, Robert G. 359


Smith, Russell M. 506


Smith, William H. 244


Spaulding, Addison R. 630


Sprenger, Jacob J. 764 Sprick, Fred 466


Sprick, Henry 338 Sprick, Christopher 339 Springer, John C. 436


xvi


INDEX TO BIOGRAPHIES


Springer, Louis 716 Springer, William 436 Squire, George H. 713 Squire, Yale H. 713 Stage, Julius E. 450


Stamschror, Anthony V. 614 Stamschror, Anton 744 Stamschror, Henry 613 Starz, Albert 765


Staudacher, Gustave 479 Steffes, Bernard 686


Stegner, Jacob M. 681 Stegner, Theodore 682


Stehr, John 716 Steinke, Mrs. Elizabeth 480 Stephan, August 279


Stephan, August G. 280


St. Jacque, Prosper 451 Stodart, George J. 252


Stohrman. Frederick 641


Stokes, Edward 291 Stoltz, August 237 Stoltz, G. Adolph 237


Stowell, Albert D. 760


Stowell, Francis A. 760


Stranberg, Ernest J. K. 659


Strauss, Henry F. 692


Strehlein, George V. 249


Sugg, Joseph 249 Suilmann, Joseph 463


Sullivan, Jeremiah 777


Sullivan, Michael J. 755


Sundquist. Louis O. 585


Sutter, Robert 356 Swanson, Albert L 234 Swanson. Charles A. 754 Sweeny, Michael 735


Sylvester, Byrl E. 223


Sylvester, Edwin L. 221


Sylvester, George F 228


Sylvester, Geo. W. 221


Taylor, Frank A. 267 Tebor, John W. 675


Tentis, Frank J. 768.


Tentis. Jacob J. 780


Thiele, August 758


Thierstein, Frederick 761


Thurman, Elmer J. 280


Tiedemann, Henry 447 Timm. George 363 Titterington, Jr., James A. 444


Titterington. Sr .. James 443


Tobias, Martin H. 485 Tomforde, John 444


Tomforde, Louis W. 443


Tradup. Charles 399


Trank, Fritz O. 444 Tupper, Frank H. 741


TTmbreit, Christ F. 256 Umbriet, Henry 388 Utigard, Henning E 342


T'tigard. Knute E. 342


Utter, Alex M. 660


Van Horn, William H. 240


Venables, Charles A. 317 Vermilya, George H. 313


Villwock. August F. 496 Wadley, Francis J. 434 Wadley. Jr., Michael H. 436


Wagner, Gottlieb 459 Wagner, Jawrence 538 Wagner, Peter W. 721


Wahler, Frederick B. 306


Walch, John 460


Wampach, Anton 668 Washburn, Frank D. 308


Washburn, Henry T. 310


Washburn, Lyman 308 Waste, John Pratt 317


Waterman, Clarence L. 307


Watson, Arlo J. 638


Watson, James T. 637


Watson, John W. 638 Webb, W. B. 461


Wedge, Ernest A. 234


Wedge, Eugene C. 320


Wedge, Henry D. 304


Wedge, Horatio 313


Wedge, James R. 313 Wehrenberg, Charles 544 Wehrenberg, Edward 539 Wehrs, Jr., Henry 361


Weir, Marshall C. 462


Welch, Samuel D. 587


Welles, Franklin A. 309


Welti, Henry 263


Welti, John 331


Welti, John 368


Welti, Philip 331


Wempner, Henry E. 358


Wentworth, Aretus M. 519


Wentworth, Clinton D. 518


Wentworth, David 276


Wentworth. Judson T. 531


Whipple, Wallace M. 718


Whitcomb, Walter H. 308


White, Robert 670


Wilde, August J. 357


Wimmer, Max C. 641


Winters, Chester J. 748


Winters, John E. 671


Wirtz, Nicholas 774


Wise, Charles 497


Wise, Edward 498


Witte, Joseph 736


Witte, Leo 737


Witte, Theodore 736


Wodele, Henry 657


Wohlers, Albert R. R. 360


Wohlers, Henry 360


Wolf. Henry 523


Wood, David J. 407


Wood, John H. 762


Wood, Orren 480


Wood. Peter C. 679


Wood, Richard L. 406


Woodcock, A. C. 305


Woodruff. Edward A. 492


Woodward, William D. 398


Woodward, William H. 399


Wright, James H. 636


Wurst, Henry J. 331


Wurst, Joe L. 495


Wyatt. Charles L. 758


York, Edward M. 415


York, Edward N. 416 York, Walter E. 416


Young, Charles 738 Zarling, August F. 772


Zarling, Herman 711


Zarling, William 772


Zickrick, Arnum 526


Zickrick, Edward W. 650


Zickrick, Royal E. 650 Zickrick, Silas 632 Zillgitt, Otto L. 342


CHAPTER I.


GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.


Wabasha County is in southeastern Minnesota, forty-two miles from the Iowa border. It is crossed by the meridian of 92 degrees, West Longitude, and is about midway between the parallels of 44 and 45 degrees, North Latitude. in the Congressional survey it occupies Township 108, North, Ranges 11 and 12, West; fractional Township 109, Range 9, and Township 109, Ranges 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14; fractional Township 110, Range 9, fractional Township 110, Range 10, and Township 110, Ranges 11, 12, 13 and 14; fractional Township 111, Range 10, fractional Township 111, Range 11, fractional Township 111, Range 12, and Township 111, Range 13. The Second Standard Parallel and the First Guide Meridian cross at the northeast corner of Township 108, Range 11, and consequently Township 108, Range 11 and Township 108, Range 12, are some half mile further west than their respective adjoining townships on the north. The county is separated on the northeast from Buffalo and Pepin Counties in Wisconsin, by the Mississippi River and its enlargement, Lake Pepin. Goodhue County, Minnesota, is on the north and west, Olmsted County, Minnesota, on the south and west, and Winona County, Minnesota, on the south and east.


The area of the county is 380,562.24 acres, of which 25,018.07 is water. There are no natural lakes within the county, except the lakes, lagoons and enlarged sloughs lying in the flood plain of the Mississippi, near the debouchure of the Zumbro. The beautiful lake at Mazeppa is artificial. The water surface of 25,018.07 acres as here indicated consists of the meandered area of the Zumbro River, and that part of the Mississippi and Lake Pepin, and their auxil- iary waters, lying west of the "middle of the main channel."


Politically the county is divided into seventeen organized townships named, respectively, Chester, Mazeppa, Mount Pleasant, Gillford, Hyde Park, Zumbro, Lake, West Albany, Oakwood, Elgin, Pepin, Glasgow, Highland, Plainview, Greenfield, Watopa and Minneiska. There are two cities, Wabasha, the county seat, and Lake City. The villages are Plainview, Elgin, Minneiska, Weaver, Millville, Hammond, Zumbro Falls, Mazeppa, Kellogg, Theilman and Reed's Landing. Other railroad points are Brights Station, Jarretts, Keegan, Lakey (Tracy), McCracken, Dumfries, Midland Junction and Camp Lakeview. Small community centers are Smithfield, Conception, Bremen Corners, South Troy, Belle Chester, Bear Valley, Oak Center, Jacksonville, West Albany and King's Cooley.


The county is almost exclusively an agricultural one, there being prac- tically no manufacturing except of butter and flour, and the cities and villages being almost entirely dependent upon the rural districts for their support and maintenance.


The original settlement was made by fur traders who found here a loca- tion convenient to the Wabasha band of Dakota at Winona. French trading posts in this vicinity date back to 1685. Trading posts were established within the actual present limits of the county early in the nineteenth century and mercantile business has been continuous within the county since 1834. The settlement at the various Mississippi points within the county was brought about by the excellent steamboat landings, and increased by the building of the railroad parallel to the river in the early seventies. The agricultural settlement in the fifties resulted from the possibilities of the rich farming lands then open to settlement, and their accessibility to the steamboat landings.


1


2


HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY


This settlement was retarded and confused somewhat, however, by the fact that much of the county lay within the limits of the Half Breed Tract, so called, the status of which as to settlement was in considerable doubt for many years. Another drawback was the difficulty of obtaining water in the prairie regions. In common with all this part of Minnesota, the county lost some of its settlers as the result of the financial panic of 1857 and the succeeding hard winter of 1857-58, and as the result of wheat failure of 1878. The prairie villages owe their establishment to their position on early routes of overland travel, and their availability to good reaches of farming country. In the Zumbro Valley the villages were started as stopping places on river fords, and developed as ferries were established and bridges were constructed. The opening of the Eyota and the Midland Railroad branches in the late seventies gave an impetus to the inland villages along their routes, and increased the importance of farming by furnishing better transportation, though this was coincident with the decline of the wheat crop. A few villages were arbitrarily established by the railroad as convenient shipping points, in places where no previous village had existed, and in at least three cases the railroad resulted in the moving for a short distance of previously established hamlets. While the water power of the county has been important, and resulted in the building of quite a number of mills in the early days, and may have had something to do with the selection of the site of Elgin, it has been a vital predominant factor in but one of the important villages, Mazeppa. There the village site was selected on account of its water power, and in the late seventies and eighties the milling activity was the central industry.


The River Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com- pany enters the county at Lake City, follows closely the shores of Lake and Pepin Townships, leaves the river at Wabasha, follows the foot of the bluffs through Greenfield, Watopa and Minneiska Townships, and leaves the county on the river bank at Minneiska Village. The Midland Division of this road, with its eastern terminus at Wabasha, uses the main line from Wabasha through Greenfield Township, and at Midland Junction in that township leaves the main line, and follows the Zumbro Valley through Greenfield, Glasgow, West Albany, Oakwood, Hyde Park, a corner of Chester, and Mazeppa, leaving the county at Mazeppa Village and from there extending westward to Faribault. The Chippewa Valley Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul extends from Wabasha to Reed's Landing, there crosses the Mississippi, and extends up the Chippewa Valley. The Eyota Division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. extends from Plainview in a southwestern direction through Plain- view and Elgin Townships, and joins the main line at Eycta in Olmsted County.


The River Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was completed through Wabasha County in 1871. The Minnesota & Pacific Rail- road Company was one of the original land grant roads, under the act of May 22, 1857. Among various other routes, it was empowered to construct a line from Winona, up the valley of the Mississippi, to St. Paul. Under the "Five Million Dollar Loan" act, the company graded sixty-two miles, and received $600,000 in bonds. The name of the incorporation was changed to the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, and as such the company built the first railroad in the state, the first locomotive with a train. of cars leaving St. Paul for St. Anthony (Minneapolis) in June, 1862.


By an act of the legislature approved March 2, 1867, the directors were authorized to change the name of the company or that of any of the branches of the road provided for in their charter. Accordingly, on March 19, 1867, the board of directors gave the name of the Chicago & St. Paul Railway to that part of their line which was to extend from St. Paul to Winona and southward. The line, however, between St. Paul and Winona was long called the Winona & St. Paul. Work was begun upon this line at or near St. Paul in 1865, but nothing was done in Wabasha county until 1870, when a line was put in opera-


3


HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY


tion from Minnesota City, on the line of the Winona & St. Peter to Weaver in Wabasha County. The next year the line was completed from St. Peter Junc- tion '(now known as Winona Junction, on the upper outskirts of Winona) to St. Paul. The last rail was laid August 15, 1871, two miles above Weaver, thus connecting Winona with St. Paul through Wabasha County. The first regular passenger train between the two cities through Wabash County left Winona at 10:30, Thursday, September 7, 1871. The bridge at Hastings was not com- pleted at that time, and passengers and freight were ferried across the river at that point. The bridge at Hastings was opened December 11, 1871, and put in operation, thus establishing through railroad connection between Winona, through Winona County, to St. Paul. In December, 1871, the road was sold to the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. This company on February 7, 1874, became the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. January 16, 1872, when the bridge at Winona was completed (the former bridge at that place having been built December 29, 1870 and fallen May 26, 1871), through communication was established with the east, over the line of the La Crosse, Trempealeau & Prescott. In 1872 the road was extended from St. Peter Junc- tion, on the outskirts of Winona, to La Crescent, down the west side of the Mississippi river, and thereafter all freight trains used this route, being ferried across the Mississippi river to La Crosse. Passenger trains, however, con- tinued to run over the Winona bridge and the North-Western lines until 1875, when the magnificent iron bridge between La Crescent and North La Crosse . was completed and brought into use for all traffic over the Milwaukee & St. Paul line.


The Midland Division of this road was started up the Zumbro Valley in 1877, but the money gave out before many miles had been built. The Mazeppa Milling Co. then took up the matter, and completed the road to Zumbrota with the backing of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Company.


That same year the Rochester & Northwestern (now the Northwestern) ran a branch from Rochester to Zumbrota. Both lines reached Zumbrota at the same time and both claimed a right of way at the foot of Main street in that village. Early residents of the western part of Wabasha County tell of a pitched battle between the two track laying crews to see who would get pos- session of the disputed ground. The Midland Division was operated as a nar- row gauge until June 7, 1903, during which year it was extended through to Faribault and on November 9, 1903, the first standard guage train passed over the roadbed through Wabasha County.


The Eyota Branch of the Chicago & Northwestern was completed in 1878. This gave the people of the southern part of the county direct connection through the Northwestern with the great trunk lines of the East and West.


The Chippewa Valley Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul was put in operation from Wabasha in 1882. The Chippewa Valley & Superior Rail- way Company, which originated the project, was projected in 1881, and the construction of the line started. The road was opened for traffic in 1882, and on Nov. 15, of that year, was transferred to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul.


The surface of Wabasha County forms a relatively level plateau, cut by deep stream valleys. This plateau has an elevation varying from 1,100 feet above the sea along the northern boundary of the county to 1,150 in the western portion, and 1,200 in the south and east, where it is approximately 525 feet above the Mississippi. It is cut in two parts near the center of the county by the valley of the Zumbro, which in its lower portion is 500 feet below the upland surface. The southern and southeastern part of the county is cut by the Whitewater Valley. The eastern edge of the county is further cut by numerous tributaries of the Mississippi, which extend back only a few miles from the river. The valleys of these tributaries, as well as that of the Zumbro are sharp and canyon-like. The lower part of the Zumbro Valley is one to two miles in width and is marked by terraces.


4


HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY


The surface waters all reach the Mississippi River, which, as noted, lies from 425 to 525 feet lower than the general upland surface of the county. The greater part of these waters gather first into the Zumbro River, which meanders in a broadly serpentine course eastward to the Mississippi, crossing the entire county. The main affluents of the Zumbro are from the south, being the south branch of Zumbro River, Long Creek, Middle Creek, West Indian Creek, Dady's Creek, and Indian Creek. From the north the Zumbro receives Skillman Brook (Trout Creek) and West Albany Creek. These streams all flow with consid- erable descent and rather uniform volume of water, but in the early summer are subject to sudden floods from heavy rain showers. These floods are the more likely to be sudden and disastrous since the valleys of the streams are deep and rock-bound gorges, gathering the surface waters, which cannot any- where be detained on the uplands, owing to the absence of lakes and marshes, and the easy slopes which allow them to run off at once.


The valley itself, as stated, is from one to two miles wide, between rock bluffs, and the stream overflows a wide margin on both sides. When the river reaches the low lands near Kellogg, some two or three miles from the nearest point in the main channel of the Mississippi, it spreads out and finds its way into the Mississippi through various channels. To reclaim a portion of this overflow land, a county ditch has been built from near Kellogg to a point in the Mississippi almost opposite Alma, Wisconsin. The main channel of the river originally flowed east and south from Kellogg and mouthed a mile and a half or two miles above Minneiska. This channel about a mile before reach- ing the Mississippi had a branch running south connecting it with the White- water which mouths at Minneiska. In high water the waters of the Mississippi and Zumbro were backed into this branch, and thus the main waters of the Zumbro at times reached the Mississippi through the mouth of the Whitewater, causing the early explorers to believe that the two rivers had but one mouth. The old mouth of the Zumbro above Minneiska still furnishes an outlet for Indian Creek and other small streams, and in high water, the waters of these streams may still be flowing through the branch mentioned into the Whitewater.


The small lakes, sloughs and lagoons, already mentioned as lying in the flood plain of the Mississippi, are composed of the waters of either the Zumbro or the Mississippi ..


The North Whitewater flows through the southern part of Elgin and Plain- view Townships, and the Whitewater itself, in finding its way to its mouth at Minneiska, flows through the southern part of Minneiska Township.


Wabasha county possesses as good facilities for manufacturing pursuits as any county in Minnesota.


The two middle forks of the Zumbro unite in the township of Oronoco, in Olmsted county, forming one rapid stream, which winds its way for a distance of two miles and unites with the waters of the south branch, which it carries onward about two miles farther, and enters Wabasha county in the town of Mazeppa. The north branch also enters the county at this point, and flows a distance of about four miles, and discharges its waters in the main Zumbro very near the center of the town. From Mazeppa it finds its way eastward, forming the boundary line betwee Zumbro and Hyde Park, crossing the north- west corner of Oakwood and the southeast corner of West Albany, traversing the towns of Glasgow and Greenfield, and enters the Mississippi, receiving on its way tributary waters from smaller streams.


The most important water power in southeastern Minnesota is utilized not far from Mazeppa, where a dam built on the south branch of the Zumbro furnishes. electrical power for the city of Rochester. The water power at Mazeppa itself furnishes that village with municipal power for its electric lights and waterworks, and is used also in grinding feed. At Jarrett's the waterpower is used for a mill. There are also a few other mills in the county.


In the eighties, when the use of waterpower in the county reached its zenith, the following report was made of conditions at that time:


5


HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY


"On Section 19, Chester, Skillman Bros .; small mill, with 11-foot head (dam), on Trout brook, often known as Skillman brook.


"On Section 31, Gillford, is the Cold Spring mill; the head of water is eight feet, formed by a dam in a small creek, owned by M. S. Hostetter, two run of stone (one for feed). This mill takes its name from a large spring of very cold water which issues from the bluff a short distance below the dam.


"At Mazeppa, the Mazeppa mill company own a mill which is situated on the Zumbro river, and has a water head of 18 feet. It is a roller mill and, by the use of steam, when the water is low, has a capacity of 650 barrels per day.


"Jarrett's mill is at Jarrett's ford, N. W. 1/4, Sec. 23, Hyde Park, on the north side of the Zumbro river. It is a custom mill with three run of stone (one for feed), twelve feet head of water, and is operated by a race-way from the river; owned by Mr. Owen.




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